Smashing Final Destination
by Seitei
Summary: Parody off of Final Destination the movie, not the stage . When Fox has a vision of everyone being brutally killed on an airship, he tries to save them, and succeeds. Now if only they stayed that way...
1. Introductions at the Airport

**A spotlight is turned on and slowly pivots to a blonde-haired boy. The small outlines of eyes line the walls. With a terrible commanding voice, they boomed "SPEAK."**

**The boy squeaks and mutters one octave too high, "T-t-the author is i-in no way affiliated with Nintendo or New L-L-Line Cinema. H-h-he does not own S-Super Smash Brothers or Final D-D-Destination." The boy starts breaking down into tears as the spotlight gradually fades away.**

* * *

"_Fox, wake up."_

"_Ugh..."_

"_Come on, it's past 8!"_

"_Dun wanna, 5 more minutes…" _

"_I said, wake up!"_

* * *

"Ok, ok, I'm awak— wha?"

Fox looked around the room. No one was there besides him. The sultry rays of evening glided through the window.

Evening…

"Oh crap! What time is it?!" Fox hastily reached for his clock and saw a big hand at the five and the little one at eight.

"8:25? I'm going to be late for the flight!" he panicked while looking for his clothes.

See, today's a month before the matches actually start, and there was a 2-week vacation for the brawlers to enjoy before the (non-violent) bloodbath began. Nobody wants to miss that, **nobody**, especially Fox, whose vacations always end up with someone having a nervous breakdown, broken limbs, you name it.

"Warp Star!" Fox shouted as he jumped on it. _"C'mon, please let me get there on time, please!"_ he thought. He didn't want to be stuck here for that one whole month doing nothing but shopping, running from the occasional fangirl mob that was usually reserved for the swordsmen, and suing the media sneaking behind him recording his every move.

After an agonizing five minutes of nail-biting panic, Fox arrived at the airport. The enormous digital clock in front read E5:8. _"Well, that can't be right,"_ he pondered to himself before he realized he was looking in a mirror. Turning around, the clock read 8:32. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he walked towards the building, as the clock above short-circuited for that one instant and displayed :23.

"Geez, where could everyone be?" he muttered to himself.

"Is that you, Fox? Over here! Over here!"

To his left was a boy, who wore a toga and had wings coming out of his shoulders.

"Pit! Finally, I've met someone! Which gate are we going to?"

"Gate?" Pit gave a curious look.

"You know, the area where we get on an airship?"

Pit just stared at Fox.

"There's a giant number over it?"

Pit just kept staring.

"…you've never rode on one before, have you?"

"NOPE!" Pit cried cheerfully. "But back on the giant number thing, I heard it was 23."

"Ah. Well, let's go!"

They made their way towards the gates, passing loud crowds of people, those annoying salesmen that sell ancient toasters that explode when you put bread in it, a kid that accidentally poked his kebab stick into someone's side, a brat flicking a lighter on and off before setting his mother's dress on fire, and a boy who fell into a fountain.

Everyone was waiting at the gate.

"There you are!"

"I thought we'd have to leave without you!"

"And we would've too!"

SLAP!

"Ouch!"

There, giving Pit and Fox exasperated looks of annoyance and relief were the rest of the fighters.

A blue-haired, elegant yet androgynous swordsman stepped towards them.

"From where I came from, it was considered common to show up two hours beforehand."

"Look here, pretty boy," drawled a dark-skinned man with obvious hints of evil around him. "This isn't Eyetear, or whatever kingdom you come from."

"It's Altea, Ganondorf, and my name is Marth!"

"..tha." finished a swordsman wearing a green tunic. Marth glared at him. Another swordsman with blue spiked hair snickered.

"Link, Ike…"

"Sorry, couldn't resist!" Link and Ike said defensively with their hands shielding them.

"So," Fox started hurriedly. "W-what type of airship are we going to be riding in?"

"The Halberd."

"What?"

"You heard me, the Halberd." Everyone stared at the diminutive warrior wearing a cape and a mask.

"Meta Knight, are you serious? You came here to relax, not to drive a giant warship."

"It has other uses than just being a warship, and I've already assigned a crew of professionals to take care of everything. And Wario, if you eat anything, including pieces of metal, on my ship, I will personally stick my sword down your throat and skewer each piece out. With you fully conscious."

"Curses!" bellowed a man with a face that would make pedophiles cry.

"Same goes to you, Kirby."

((AN: Due to my reasoning that you, the reader, and I, the author, will probably be annoyed with sounds that are in no way a language that either of us can comprehend and will compel us to gouge our eyes out and douse alcohol on them, I will have every character speak in a language I'm (mostly) sure we can all understand: English. If you can't, then I have no clue why you were reading this fic in the first place.))

"But I—" started a pink marshmallow (?) with a face that would make children hungry bastards. "Never mind."

"I've been looking forward to this vacation," a blonde with her hair tied into a ponytail sighed. "I'll be finally able to get away from—"

"Hey there, Samus! How would you like to see some of my _moves_?" shouted a racer.

"How would you like to be annihilated with a plasma cannon in your face, Falcon? And I'll be tying you to your bed, Snake, if you come any closer." Samus directed her threat towards Captain Falcon and the box that was inching towards her cheeks.

The war-hardened mercenary threw the box off of him and whispered in a voice that could attract fangirls from every direction. "I'll let you tie me if you're going to be on it as well."

"Yeah, when you get a razor in your neck."

"Playing hard to get, huh? I like that in a woman."

"Would you like a missile in your mouth?"

"Mario, I'm-a scared…" squeaked an (clearly) Italian wearing a green hat.

"Luigi, if you're-a scared, I don't-a know what Lucas is," his shorter, red-capped counterpart pointed out. A blonde-haired, big-head boy was being poked with a bat by Ness, his baseball-loving friend, and surrounding Lucas was a variety of strange creatures.

The other human, taller than the two brats (erm, kids) named Red turned to a bipedal turtle. "Squirtle, use Water Gun on him, will you?"

"You got that, squirt!"

"What did you call me?!"

"Nothing, squirt!"

Water came out of Squirtle's mouth like a baby after eating his first meal and straight onto Lucas' face, causing him to scream and jump ten feet in the air before a jackal-like being spiked him back down.

"What was that for, Lucario?!"

"Now, now, let's sing a song to soothe our troubles—"

"Do that, Jigglypuff, and I will rip out your vocal cords and feed them to Ivysaur!" roared a giant red dragon from overhead.

"Pikachu! They're being cruel to me!"

"No. Stay away from me, you crazy woman."

"Get back here, you egg-laying freak!" roared a turtle with a spiked shell.

"Yoshi!"

"Leave the poor—useless-- thing alone, Bowser!" called out a elegant girl (woman?) dressed in magnificent garb.

"What are you going to do? Turn into a man again?"

WHACK! Bowser went sailing through the air right into Olimar, crushing his beloved Pikmin.

"No! Harold, Maya, Snookums!"

"You know, even if we make it to that—tropical resort, was it—we're going to need another vacation after this vacation," sneered a blue humanoid bird keeping a cartoonish version of Link at bay.

"Falco!" cried the angel boy. "You haven't addressed your best friend yet!"

"…shut up. I know he's here, you know."

"And we're glad he's here." A blonde-haired girl in a vivid pink dress clutching onto a pink parasol, giving Fox a smile that could make a cold-blooded child murderer cry. He blushed before his secret crush, stuttering, "Oh, it's n-nothing…"

"Well, almost _all_ of us are glad he's here." Fox frowned. Standing right in front of him was his arch-nemesis that saved his butt a lot of times and ridiculed him for the heck of it.

"Wolf, you didn't have to say such things!"

"Peach, you should feel sorry for this mongrel with one eye. He can't get a date to save his life." Fox remarked.

"Ah, but you need someone whose guts you'd spit on to save yours," chuckled Wolf.

"Shut up, Wolf." Falco sternly expressed.

"Can it, tomorrow's lunch."

"Why, you—"

"_Attention, will all passengers at Gate 23 please board your airship immediately. It will be taking off in fifteen minutes,"_ echoed a voice over the PA speakers. The roar of engines could be heard through the thick glass windows as the Halberd came onto view.

"Let's just go on; I'm sick of being close to this mutt," whined Falco.

* * *

**Well, that's the end of the first chapter to commemorate the beginning of a new month!**

**Fox: More like soften the blow before school starts.**


	2. When Cheese is Not Edible

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and the inspiration of this story. That'll only happen when I manage to lick my right elbow in a pit of aroused poisonous snakes.**

* * *

"_So you're finally awake, sleepyhead?"_

"_I guess so… but what are you doing here?"_

_Before Fox was the love of his life, Krystal. Her pale azure eyes seemed to pierce deep into his soul. With their relationship spanning over a year, anytime she came barging into his flat was good news._

"_I got breakfast ready for you. How do eggs and ham sound to you?"_

"_As long as they're not green," laughed Fox._

* * *

The Halberd was a pretty darned good airship to be in once you got over the hulking cannons that took up space from the side, the guns on the underside of the ship, and other weapons of mass destruction that could blow up at any moment.

"Say, Meta Knight," Zelda questioned. "Why didn't you disable the cannons and all your heavy artillery? I don't want to be towed in because we blew a ship up."

"Same reason why you don't disable your organs."

"Other than the fact that that was a poor comparison, that made no sense whatsoever."

"You mean like how you can turn into a man?" laughed Bowser.

"Or how you used to put an axe behind you so Mario could chop down the bridge and send into a nice lava bath? What villain does that?" Zelda shot back making Bowser shut up.

"She's-a right, Bowser," Mario said, with an amused look on his face. "Why would-a you do that?"

"I was forced to!"

"By-a who?"

"Uh…"

_Flashback:_

"_I've got you now Peach!"_

"_Oh, no! Please don't hurt me! I'll give you something good if you'll do me a favour!"_

"_Oh, and what would that be?"_

"_Take one of your axes and put it behind you on the bridge when Mario comes. If you do, you'll be in for a good time tonight."_

"_OH YES!"_

_End Flashback_

"Well?" Zelda pried.

At this point, Bowser looked over at Peach who was hanging out with Fox. Having overheard the conversation, she gave him the "tell-anybody-what-really-happened-and-not-only-will-you-be-ridiculed-for-the-rest-of-your-life-but-you-will-have-metal-objects-stuck-into-every-orifice" glare. He gulped.

"Kamek did!"

"Kamek?" everyone questioned.

"Augh, I ain't saying anymore," Bowser sighed, as he walked away.

"Um, Peach, are you ok? You're kind of scaring me." Peach glanced over at Fox behind her, who took a step backwards.

"Hmm? Yes, yes, I'm fine! I've got an idea, actually. Why don't we all take pictures of everyone?" she suggested, holding up the newest camera in market with 7 extra functions that have absolutely no use at all. "Take a picture of me first, Fox!"

"Um, sure. Say cheese!" The camera briefly illuminated Peach with her parasol swung behind her shoulder.

"Thanks, Fox. Want me to take your picture?"

"Just a sec. Hey Falco, want to get a picture taken?"

"Give me a moment, will ya?" Falco uttered, quickly preening his feathers.

"Ready? 1, 2, 3!" The flash went off.

"You know, you two look pretty retarded in that photo." Wolf glanced over Peach's shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't see _you_ getting your picture taken," sneered Falco.

"That's why I'm here. May the lovely princess take a picture of yours truly?" Wolf drawled on, watching Fox seethe in rage with amusement.

"Well, you didn't have to say that, but I did say everyone."

As he got his picture taken, he gave a smirk that clearly said "What'cha gonna do now, bitch?" and sauntered away.

"One of these days…"

"Fox, you came to relax, not to spar with him. You'll get that chance in a month," Peach reminded Fox, hoping to soothe his anger. "Anyways, I'm going off to take pictures of everyone else. Bye!"

And so she walked off, taking pictures of everyone important on board.

"Well, I'm bored," Falco said. "Wanna play a game?"

"What kind of game?"

"I Spy. I'll go first; I spy with my little eye… something that's shiny and pointy."

"Peach's crown."

"Wow, you're good. Let's try another one. I spy with my little eye, something tied into brown bra—"

"Zelda's hair."

"You really are good at this. I spy with my little eye, two—"

"Samus's."

"I hate you for this."

"Hi there, Mr. McCloud!" piped a little boy in a blue Eskimo outfit.

"Err, hey there, Popo! What do you want?"

"Nana told me not to tell anyone, but she's got a present for you!"

"Um, that's very nice of you. So what is it?"

"Well, its—"

But what it was, they did not find out, for there was a sudden jolt throughout the craft. Engines grew louder as the Halberd slowly went into motion and off the ground.

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick," Lucas moaned as he made his way towards the deck.

* * *

**Me: Well, this chapter's shorter, but oh well. It's up now for the start of school!**


	3. Engineer's Day Off

**Disclaimer: I'm starting to hate this. Everyone should know by now that I don't own these characters. And if you still (if you ever that is) think that I do, well then you're quite the Induhvidual.**

**I'd like to apologize for the lack of quality that was traded in for quantity. More after this chappie.**

_"Mm-hmm, this sure is good!"_

_After finishing a scrumptious, perfect meal of French toast and fresh milk, Fox clutched his stomach in deep contentment. Usually right after being served breakfast, they'd go out for a walk in the garden, and mull on what tidings the future will bring..._

_  
_Nothing could describe the uneventfulness of the trip. It had already been 25 minutes and nothing happened. Thanks to the wild adventures that almost every character has every waking moment of their life, needless to say, many were suffering from "action withdrawal."

"Aw, man," Link groaned. "I've never gone this long without busting someone's head open." He swung his sword back and forth lazily, causing everyone to watch him with a wary eye.

"You know what?" said Bowser. "I'm going to go outside and see what clouds have an intere—"

Suddenly, the airship gave a huge jolt. Lucas came running back in, screaming at the top of his lungs. Everyone perked up and stared at Meta Knight, persuading him non-verbally to regain control of his ship.

"Fine," he sighed. "Make me do all the stinking work, even though I _should_ be on va—"

But not much work was done, as a cannon's support broke and started rolling due to the tilt of the Halberd, slowly picking up speed.

"Jigglypuff, look out!"

Even as she turned around, it was too late; she had no time to dodge and was so promptly crushed into a pulp as it crushed her into a wall. Blood slowly oozed from behind the black metal.

Another jolt sent Olimar flying into a set of pipes. Compressed gas swiftly seeped out, and it didn't help when the friction from his helmet generated sparks. Those sparks slowly grew into flames and consumed the poor Hocotatian whole.

The loyal Pikmin, once upon the realization of losing their leader, went amok and started jumping on large objects, namely Bowser.

"No, hey, stop it!"

Busy clawing off the Pikmin, a few strong-bodied purple ones picked him up and slowly trotted towards the cannon that killed Jigglypuff. Confusing the large black object to be some sort of "super onion," they tossed him in butt-first, and caused him to belch a small burst of fire from the impact. And let's just say that fire does not mix well with a fuse; especially a short one. As the spark came into contact with gunpowder, BOOM! The turtleball flew out into the sky.

"Run! We have to get out on the deck!"

A strong burst of wind from the hole caused everyone to lose their balance, and Wario fell down hard onto the already unstable wooden floor, causing it to break and he went straight down and snapped his neck upon impact.

Red and his Pokémon weren't so lucky, either. The floor was breaking apart and certain elements were being revealed. Namely wires. Electrical wires. Falling through an already weak portion of the ground, the wires which transported power constricted around Red and Charizard's necks and as their breath expired, the immense weight of the fire-breathing dragon caused the wire to snap and deliver an immense discharge onto Squirtle and Ivysaur.

The erratic snake of power flailed around, and claimed the two Links as prey, before turning onto Snake, and then Samus. Pikachu attempted to jump onto the spazzing wire and channel the electricity into him, before getting a superficial slash wound with sent him flying into the Ice Climbers. Pikachu and Nana were clinging on to the belay line, though Popo on the other end steadily lost against the pull of two people that weren't travelling 145 mph anymore. There was a terrifying splatter from the turbine.

Another jolt caused hell to rain from above. Loose bits of metal started falling and killing many; Kirby cried as a large piece of metal tore into his body while in motion, ripping him apart. Mario yelled in shock and disbelief as Luigi was sliced in half by a long, thin piece before getting his brains bashed out by a huger chunk. Lucas and Ness fell through another piece of floor and were ripped apart by the cogs. Lucario, in an attempt to defend himself from any potential danger, launched an Aura Sphere at an incoming piece of metal, only to have it break into tinier pieces at much faster speeds and peppering him into Swiss cheese. Not much to say 'bout Ganondorf: he got impaled straight directly from the center of his head.

"Oh my god, almost everyone's dead," Zelda sobbed. Fox was devastated: three more hours and they would've made it to the resort, all safe and happy. Why did this have to happen?

He didn't have time to ponder: the Halberd started to go into a nosedive and lose altitude fast.

"Get ready to jump," Meta Knight ordered. "When I give the order, I want you all to—"

He never got to finish the sentence, as a rush of wind knocked his small stature back towards the carnage of twisted metal, and Zelda tried teleporting with Farore's Wind toward the little knight in hopes of stopping him, but she couldn't stop his inertia, and thus was driven along as well.

Everyone else could only stare in horror as the Hylian princess and the leader of the Star Knights were pierced through a broken pipe. Blood trickled from the back of Zelda's head and Meta Knight's body slowly down onto the ground.

Peach was aghast. Watching the other princess die became too much for her and she became light-headed and started stepping backwards towards the endless void. As she was about to fall, Fox gripped her hand with all the strength he could muster.

Guess Peach should have laid off the cake before boarding; Fox alone couldn't hold her alone, as he started slipping towards the hole as well.

"Fox, if you die, I'll never forgive you!"

Fox turned around; pulling him backwards was Wolf and Falco. With all the strength they could muster, they pulled him up along with Peach, panting and wheezing.

"Guys…" he started. He was grateful to them for saving him from an imminent death, though a part of him wished that he had died instead of being saved by Wolf for the umpteenth time. He just couldn't stand that bastard.

But just before he could go on, the dreaded creak resounded through the Halberd. With its already unstable body, it would have come apart in the air. And that time has come.

The ends of the Halberd seemed to sink, independent of each other. It was splitting in two, and they were smack dab in the middle, causing Fox and Peach to be trapped on one side, Falco and Wolf on the other.

"Damn it!" Falco swore, as they became separated. He and Wolf jumped over.

Only to jump past them. Falco, quickly pivoting around while sliding backwards, lost his footing and hit his head against what was left of the wall hard. The impact made him lose consciousness. With that, he rolled out towards a hole in the wall, feeling nothing as he fell towards his death.

Wolf, on the other hand, managed to grip to what little there was left. However, it gave way and so started plummeting before coming to a stop at the back. He realized his senses were fading away and looked down. He was impaled. Straight through the heart, a piece of jagged metal protruded from his body.

"Damn it," he croaked, and drew his last breath.

The Halberd gave another ominous rumble, and Fox had to grab Peach (again) as she hung out the ledge. Peach's eyes slowly opened and she saw Fox struggling to keep her from falling.

"Fox…" she whispered. With her free hand, she reached into god-knows-where and took out her parasol. "Take this, and live for me."

"I can't do that!" he cried. "You have to—everyone else I know is gone! Besides, you have a kingdom to look over; they need you!"

There was a moment's silence. The pink-dressed princess had thrust her parasol up towards the vulpine. She gave him a smile and snuck out of his grip and fell.

"NO!" he cried. The instant she faded from view, despair filled his heart. In that one instant, her smile came back to haunt him. Controlled by grief and sorrow, he jumped, knowing that he would never make it alive.

The falling machinery above him blew up. As the mighty conflagration rained upon him, he clutched onto the princess' keepsake tightly.

_We'll see each other soon, Peach._

Then his world went dark.

**So as mentioned before, I'd like to apologize for this badly-written chapter. Contributing reasons are:**

**Time constraints  
The urge to get this chapter done with  
Limited ways to die**

**I promise that the next one will be much better than this one.**

**Fox: You just freaking killed us all! This is the end!  
Me: Wow. Just, wow.**


	4. Those Ain't Fireworks, Hon

**Yeah, I don't own Super Smash Bros. or Final Destination. Srsly.**

_The garden was an area where one could sit and just enjoy nature. The luscious roses, the pure white lilies, and the radiant violets were just a part of this magnificent scenery._

_Fox and Krystal looked over towards a clearing devoid of any flowers. There, that one patch of grass was where they first met._

* * *

"I was forced to!"

Fox opened his eyes. He was back on the Halberd, in all of its magnificent glory. Nothing was broken, flying around, or destroyed.

"By-a who?" Mario questioned.

Fox got a bit unnerved. Why was Mario repeating that? And why weren't they all dead? Was it all just a dream? He could already guess what Bowser was going to say next, and lo and behold—

"Kamek," Fox muttered under his breath as Bowser screamed the exact same thing. He didn't like the way this was going…

"You know, I've got an idea," piped up a familiar voice from beside him. He turned and saw Peach smiling at him. That same haunting smile…

"Why don't we take pictures?"

"Um, well, uh…" Fox stammered. Should he call Falco, or shouldn't he? And yet, Falco came over with his hastily preened feathers, buckled Fox as he got ready to pose as the shutter went off.

"You know, you two look pretty retarded in that photo."

"Well, I don't see _you_ getting your picture taken."

"That's why I'm here," drawled Wolf.

"May the lovely princess take a picture of yours truly?" Wolf and Fox chanted in unison.

The three stared at him for a while. "Shit, now they think I'm crazy or something," Fox thought. After a while, they shrugged it off and Peach took a photograph of Wolf. Afterwards, he left after smirking at Falco and studying Fox with a wary eye. Peach soon took off taking pictures of the others.

"Well, I'm bored. Wanna play a ga—"

"NO!" Fox shouted, perhaps a bit too forcefully. "I don't want to play I Spy!"

"How did—"

"And I know that you've picked Peach's crown, Zelda's hair, and Samus' ginormous boobs! Is there anything else you can think of?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! How the hell did you know that!?" Falco was turning deep shades of red at this point.

"This already happened once before! We, we, we're all going to die!"

Everyone looked around at Fox. He was usually a sensible person that wouldn't lose his head over anything (except for that one time when some of the younger fighters took his uninsured Arwing out for a cruise without his knowledge. It came back with a few parts missing too!).

"Perhaps he is just too excited and just screamed that out for no apparent reason?" Marth suggested.

"That, or he's mad," added Bowser.

"No! I'm not crazy, and I didn't scream that out for nothing! We'll all die if we don't get off this ship! It's going to blow up!"

"No one's getting off this ship but you," pointed out Wolf.

"Who died and made you leader?" questioned Meta Knight.

"That's right. Give me two good reasons why we should listen to you," said Samus.

"You really want to know? Fine. One: I'm not out of my mind, like that fucking psycho over there," Wolf pointed at Fox. "And two: I have a cock, which neither you or that lunatic have."

"Go to hell, you bastard!" she screamed as she turned away, flushing.

Wolf turned a deaf ear on the PMSing blonde; not many people liked his crude mind-set anyways, except for the children, who were polite to everyone and were easy to brainwa—I mean educate.

"Fox," a deep baritone voice started. Our furry hero turned around and found the diminutive captain glaring up at him.

"I don't care whether or not you're crazy, but insulting my ship was one of the worst things you could have done. Get off my ship. NOW."

"You better listen to him," Wolf cut in. "You know, after that whole incident with your gir—"

"You're fucking going down, O'Donnell!" Everyone gasped; no one, absolutely no one, ever was on last name terms (if they have one, that is). Last name terms meant serious business. Fox pounced onto Wolf and the two of them proceeded to beat the living crap out of each other.

"Cease this at once! You two, get off my ship no—"

POW. A blow landed on Meta Knight and knocked off his mask. It sailed through the air, and with a sickening crack from the lupine's foot, was crushed into pieces.

There was a hushed silence; even the two fighting froze in horror. Everyone drew their gaze towards the unmasked knight, whose back was turned towards them. Turning around, they saw… a new mask made out of cardboard.

"Everyone, off. I'm definitely not going like this, and if I'm not going, neither of you are."

So all the Smashers left the Halberd and almost everyone started blaming the two.

"What the hell is your problem, McCloud?!"

"Thanks a lot, you twits! I needed that vacation!"

"Cut it out you guys!" cried Peach. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"Peach, you honestly can't stand up for this moron!" Pikachu cried. He wasn't the cheery mouse that everyone thought he was (that's just for the kiddies, of course). He was called "the fucking bastard that would shock anyone that pissed him off" by everyone else (behind his back).

"Um, sir?" asked one of the crew

"What is it?" Meta Knight shot back, perhaps a little too angrily.

"Er, we were kind of looking forwards to that vacation too, but if you're not going to be here…"

"Tell you what. Since you're so hard-working and responsible, feel free to go yourself. Just don't ruin anything."

"Yes, sir!"

"You can't let them go!" Fox cried out, struggling towards the departing crew member.

"Continue struggling, Fox, and I'll sedate you."

"Fox, calm down," Falco sternly remarked.

Fox's efforts ended in vain. The airship hummed even louder and began to slowly lift off of the ground. Everyone was silent for a while, staring at Fox with either rage, skepticism, or (in Peach's case) sympathy.

"Oh, Pikachu! We cannot go on our wonderful date! I guess we'll just have to—"

"For the last time, can it, lady. I never went out with you and never will."

"Playing hard to get, eh?" Jigglypuff said seductively. "I like that in a man." She batted her eyes furiously at him. Everyone gagged at this scene.

Then it happened.

An explosion shook the airport violently. A fiery red glow illuminated the walls as everyone looked outside.

"Oh my god," said a stupefied Bowser.

The Halberd, a bit far away in the distance, was engulfed in the explosion and slowly broke into pieces. The fireball expanded until everything that was once the Halberd was consumed.

Everyone redirected their gaze towards the shocked vulpine, now in a daze as he stood there, mouth agape, absorbing the explosion into his mind, and the deaths of everyone on board.

**Well, it happened. You can all have fun with the next chappie: People start dying for real now!**

**Anyways, R&R plz.**


	5. You Must Be This Smart To Drink

**Well, it's some purty fun stuff from here on!**

**Bustman: I actually don't have every character die. It's already overkill for me.**

* * *

_Fox and Krystal continued their stroll down the garden. The smell of the flowers filled their nostrils with nostalgic fragrances._

_They stopped in front of a bed of roses. Fox reached through the myriad of colours and plucked a white rose and turned to Krystal._

_"Here, this is for you."_

_"I'm flattered, Fox."_

--  
Everyone awoke with excitement on the day of the new tournament. A month passed and everyone, though still shaken by the events before, tried to forget what happened.

That didn't go easily, though.

As much as they wanted to erase all traces of the tragedy, it still left an impact on everyone; Lucas developed acrophobia, Popo wouldn't play with his toy airplane anymore, and Fox…

Well, Fox…

He was never the same after the incident. Before, he was jolly and pretty talkative with the other fighters. But now all he would do is stare vacantly into space, trod meaninglessly around by himself, and not as much as a peep when the other brawlers came up to say hi. Sure, he might say something every once in a while, but most of the time was engulfed in a litany of silence in his room.

"I… I can't always be like this. I've got to move on. There wasn't anything I could have done. Yeah…" he reassured himself.

As he reached towards the door, a feeling of ill dread crept down his back. Nervously, he turned around. Nothing. "Must have been the wind," he thought, only to realize that none of his windows were open, nor was there anyplace a possible location from where a draft could've been carried from.

Shaking the feeling off, he opened the door and looked out the hallway. Everyone was down at breakfast, since no one was roaming the hallway. As he walked down the stairs, he was met with a floating white glove.

Master Hand is the one who manages all the brawls and (sometimes) plays part-time counselor as well. He was exceptionally busy this past month, what with reassuring Jigglypuff that nothing terrible will happen to her and her love ever again.

"So, Fox!" The large hand boomed. Master Hand paused slightly; Fox was the only one he had trouble with; he just nodded occasionally during his session. "Are you, um, ready to see the first brawl?"

"S-sure!" the vulpine stuttered; "One step at a time," he encouraged himself. "One step at a time."

"You seem to be feeling better," Master Hand pointed out. "Hyped up for the tournament?"

"Yep!" A numb feeling took over the lower portion of Fox's face; he hadn't smiled for a while, and it felt good, just to make the corners of his mouth rise up. He bid Master Hand good day, and walked towards the dining room.

The dining room was a grand room, what with not accommodating a variety of fighters. The food here was good (and at times, unusual), no, the best that many have ever tasted.

Today was the same as ever; everyone chatting joyfully and eating quickly in case comes over and swallows every single piece of food in sight. Fox sits at the table closest to the entrance where Link, Marth and Ness were stuffing down pancakes like no tomorrow.

"Fox!" Marth had just noticed Fox sitting across him. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I guess," he replied sheepishly, taking a pancake and cutting at it with his fork. "So, who's fighting in the first match?"

"It's a one-on-one. Jigglypuff versus Bowser."

"Seriously? Who the hell came up with that pairing? You're pitting a puffball against an—Ouch!"

The vulpine, in his absent-mindedness, jabbed himself in the mouth with his fork.

"Are you ok?" Ness asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I guess I'll be fine." Fox looked over and saw the obese doppelganger of Mario whisper something into Bowser's ear. "Probably giving him some advice," he thought. He looked over at the other table watching Jigglypuff make advances towards Pikachu again. Pikachu, being the douche he was, ignored her, though electricity crackled and surrounded his body in a threatening manner. "What the hell does she see in him, anyways?"

The match wasn't starting until 2 in the afternoon, so our furry hero had quite some time to reacquaint himself with everyone. He reconciled with Falco with a few jokes, annoyed Pikachu like he's always done before, and managed to get along with everyone.

Well, almost everyone.

"Well, lookie what we have here."

Wolf hadn't been in a good mood after the crash. He got his hide saved by that freaking moron that always kept shooting him down. Sure, Wolf saved him once, but the thought of it happening in vice-versa? Appalling. Needless to say, they still didn't like each other at all.

"What do you want, O'Donnell?"

"I see that you've crawled out of your shell, McCloud," the lupine spat with venom.

Fox narrowed his eyes. "What the fuck do you want with me now, huh?" He stuck his face right at his rival's and started a growling contest. Ike, who was completely oblivious to it all due to his chicken wing, bumped right into Fox. Fox lurched over, right onto Wolf, as his face became closer when—

THUMP! Fox ended up giving a headbutt to Wolf as both fell to the ground. (A/N: Sorry, Fox/Wolf fangirls. Ain't happening in my story.)

"Get the fuck off of me, McCloud!" the space pirate snarled as he pushed Fox off of him, as he sauntered away. Yeah, he was pissed.

Finally, the match was about to start. Up in the control room, Master Hand's crazy younger brother, Crazy Hand (Parents were obviously geniuses when it came to naming their children) was going to overlook the match. He cackled as he set what's left of his slurpee onto a shelf. He set the match to be a simple one; a two-minute match, stage being on the Battlefield.

"Urge, to destroy, something…" he cackled, and he zoomed out the door, leaving the controls unattended.

All the other fighters had their own stand to observe the fight. They watched, bored, as the advertisements were displayed on the giant screen. They were pretty normal ones, such as cheap ocarinas, year's supply of shrooms, and rock candy. Fox became a little unnerved. The rock candy ad, "It'll rock your world hard!" started malfunctioning, changing it into, "It'll rock you hard!"

"You don't seem well, Fox," Pit spoke up. The angel looked very concerned.

"Er, what are you talking about?" Fox stammered. "I-I'm perfectly fine!"

"You have that nervous look," Pit pointed out. "I don't see it very often."

"You got me," Fox said, putting his hands up in the air, blocking Pikachu's view.

"Move it!"

"I just have a bad feeling, that's all." Fox returned his hands to his sides. He watched the match begin and Jigglypuff and Bowser duke it out.

(A/N: Imagine your semi-fight scene here. It's irrelevant to the plot.)

With time remaining at 40 seconds, the tension increased throughout the stands. The audience started cheering for their favourite brawler, invigorating them with new energy.

Meanwhile, a dark-robed figure snuck into the control room, took out his huge scythe, and struck the panel.

…

No, not really. That'd make things way too easy.

Bowser, charged up for a smash attack, and with an unexplainable surge in power, struck a soccer ball on the ground with the force of a Falcon Punch, sending it flying out of the stage and making cracks in the control room's glass. The crowd's non-ceasing cheers boomed into the control room, shaking anything that wasn't held down, including the slurpee left by Crazy Hand.

"I don't feel so good," Fox moaned. His oversensitive hearing was giving him a migraine. "Tell me who wins, will you?" he asked Pit. Pit nodded his head, still staring at the intense showdown.

The moment Fox closed the doors to the stadium, an unearthly silence dropped upon him. He stood there for a second, thinking of how wonderful it was to hear nothing. He strolled past the control room without a second thought.

How he could have averted a terrible fate if he had gone in.

Since the soundproof glass had cracked, the blocking of sound was weakening and soon Fox was deafened again.

"And I was hoping I could get some peace and quiet around here," he muttered angrily.

The slurpee, unattended by anyone, started moving around on its tiny pedestal due to the powerful vibrations emanating from the excited crowd outside. It soon was on the edge of the stand, threatening to tip over.

Just then, the announcer's voice screamed "Time!" This outburst was the point of no return. The drink fell onto the controls, spewing its contents everywhere. The short-circuiting machine started crackling with electricity, getting Fox's attention five feet away. He ran back toward the room only to find the controls malfunctioning. The announcer's voice came back a little garbled; with the score tied, a Sudden Death was imminent. The only part Fox could pick out was "Death."

As close as he could get, he noticed one thing that made his blood turn cold.

The pain receptor disabling mechanism was disabled.

"Shit!"

Meanwhile, on the Battlefield, Bowser took a swipe and grabbed Jigglypuff. Fox, with a clear view of what just happened, knew what was going to happen next. Bowser jumped up high and piledrived Jigglypuff, releasing a bloodcurdling scream.

Everyone went deathly silent. Even as Bowser released the pink singing puffball from his grip, she lay there, still, with a look of horror painted upon her face.

"Wh-why—how?!" Bowser sputtered as he shrunk back from what he'd done." "I-I didn't mean to ki—" but he couldn't finish his sentence.

"How the hell could anyone die in that match?" Ike muttered worriedly.

R.O.B, a silent spectator most of the time, transmitted, "Data shows that her heart has stopped due to pain receptors reactivating themselves during the match."

"But-a she shouldn't-a have felt the pain!" Mario cried out. Everyone suddenly had a jolt of realization on their faces.

"Fox!"

Dashing back in, they found him trying to futilely fix the machine.

"So it was you, eh, McCloud?"

Wolf had an evil smirk across his face. "Couldn't stand that annoying marshmallow, hmm? That's why you tampered with the machine, right?"

"You-You've got it all wrong! It short-circuited right as I went by this room!"

"I don't know if we can trust you, McCloud…"

"Same goes to you, O'Donnell."

"But I'm not the one caught in the act, now, am I?"

"Why the fuck would I tamper with the machine using a slurpee?" Fox countered, pointing at the spilled beverage.

"What is going on here?!" Master Hand chose this opportune moment with his brother in tow.

"We caught McCloud here in this room, _sir_," Wolf's voice drawled, dripping with sarcasm.

"Is this true, Fox?"

"I only came into this room because I heard the damn thing breaking down!"

"Who was in here last?!" Master Hand's voice boomed out in raging anger. A small "eep" came from the twitching glove behind him.

"Crazy, don't tell me…"

"I swear, I didn't do it! I left it there on the stand!" he cried, index finger pointing towards the stand. "Maybe, um, Fox pushed it over!"

"Why the hell would I want to kill either of those two?!"

"I dunno, you've been loopy after the airport incident," Wolf chuckled, circling a clawed finger around his temple. "You've could've done anything, for simply the most _insane_ reasons…"

"I believe Fox," Peach said sternly. All eyes turned towards her. "Fox just isn't someone who would kill someone for the fun of it. In fact, I don't think he'd kill anyone."

"Thanks, Peach," Fox blushed. He was thankful for her undying faith for him.

"In any case, I would like everyone to meet in the auditorium. There are announcements I have to make." Master Hand glided out of the room, dragging Crazy Hand out as well. "As for you… well, I'll have to get you medication."

"NO! Anything but that!"

All the fighters solemnly marched out of the room with their heads bowed down ('cept for Wolf; he was furious that McCloud managed to weasel his way out). The only one who remained was the yellow mouse.

"Jigglypuff…" he whispered. "No. No, I don't love—aw, who am I kidding?"

And Pikachu cried. For the first time, after a few years, Pikachu broke down into tears, tears of guilt and love for the one he secretly loved.

* * *

**Well, the end of another chapter. And someone finally died, too! Anyways, keep R&Ring!**

**Pikachu: Why did she have to die?! bawls**


	6. I Told You To Clean Up

**Why, yes, it's a new chapter! And it's going to give you guys what you want!**

**Kirby: Candy?**

**Me: No… death!**

* * *

"_You want to go do some shopping?" asked Krystal. They were out of the garden, heading towards one of the hugest department stores in Corneria._

"_Er, sure! I actually need to get something, so, could you go shopping by yourself for a minute?"_

"_By yourself? Well, I… well, if you must."_

--

"…and so, the tournament will be postponed until further notice, due to broken controls and the death of a very beloved fighter," Master Hand finished.

They all sat in the auditorium, listening to Master Hand's speech, many of them squirming in their seats. Jigglypuff wasn't exactly what you'd call a great person. At times she was particularly possessive (around Pikachu, of course), and had fits of rage whenever things didn't go her way. In other words, she was a bitch.

"Jigglypuff's funeral will be held in 2 days. I want _all_ of you attend."

Then he floated away. The moment the door was closed behind them, everyone broke out into a heated discussion.

"So what now? No tournament?"

"I feel sorry for Bowser. I don't think he'll be the same ever again," Zelda remarked; Bowser was sitting alone in a corner with a tortured look on his face.

"So who do you think did it?" Ike asked.

"Well, like I said--"

"We've heard your theory a thousand times, Wolf," Marth sighed. "But why would he kill Jigglypuff?"

"Because he hates her."

"We all do."

"But we're not all psychos, are we?"

"You know, Wolf, I have a question that I can't believe I haven't asked ever since we first met."

"And what would that be?"

"Why on earth do you hate Fox so much?"

Wolf paused for a moment. His eyes darted to the side in the search for good words to use. "Well, it's because we're rivals! Rivals say bad things about each other!" he chuckled nervously.

"You seem to be too nervous to be telling the truth," Marth pointed out. "And Fox doesn't seem to think of you that way."

"R-r-really? What does he think of me, then?"

"I'm not sure I recalled his exact words, but it was something along the lines of 'although you're brash, crude, and just a plain jackass, you're honourable, loyal,' and he still hasn't forgotten how you saved him from some bug invasion, was it?"

"O-oh."

"So, are you going to tell me now?"

"A-about what?"

"Why you hate him."

"Well, it's because he, um, uh—"

After a few seconds of stammering and a pissed off Ike, the prince of Altea's eyes widen. "Don't tell me, you, him—"

"I gotta go!" and without further ado, the lupine whisked away faster than a Shy Guy with its mask knocked off.

"So? Do you know why he hates him or not?" Ike asked, dumbfounded at what could have been communicated through jargon.

"You really are dense, aren't you," Marth said, exasperated. "It's obvious that he li—"

But Marth was interrupted by a baseball hit by Ness; you can't exactly hold children's attention spans for a very long time, and Lucas and Ness, well, they started pitching. It socked him straight in the nose with a tiny "crack."

"Sorry 'bout that, Mr. Marth!"

"So are you going to tell me or not?" Ike prodded.

"I'll talk to you later; my beautiful face is scarred," the prince proclaimed dramatically, as he glided up the stairs, muttering darkly under his breath.

"So, Fox, how did it happen?" Meta Knight asked. He relaxed a bit around Fox now, though still a bit cold; he still hasn't forgotten how said vulpine knocked down his mask.

"I told you, it was a slurpee—"

"Slurpee?!" Kirby, upon hearing this, became hyper and jumped off the walls.

"Kirby, stop. You don't have a lollipop," Meta Knight remarked.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You don't have a warrant to jump off walls without a lollipop. Anyways," Meta Knight turned back to Fox, continuing from where they were rudely interrupted. "What was it that you were going to say?"

"A slurpee fell on the controls. That's all I remember, though."

"There was something else," someone sniffed.

Turning around, Pikachu was there, and yet, he wasn't smug or being a plain ol' douche. After discovering Jigglypuff's body, he was abnormally quiet, and wasn't in the spotlight for once.

Neither Fox nor Meta Knight was sure as to how to deal with this strange predicament. "Er, what else did you see?"

"The window."

"What about the window?"

"One of the windows were broken."

"So are you suggesting that someone broke in and pushed the slurpee over? That seems to be a strange way to kill someone," pondered Fox.

"What if they didn't mean to do it on purpose?" wondered Meta Knight. Fox turned over and gave the diminutive star warrior a blank stare. "Well, excuse me for thinking out of the box."

"Well, there's not much we can do now," Falco cut in. He wasn't particularly pleased with the delay (or, as he would say, cancellation) of the tournament. "So what's going to happen now? D'you expect we'd go back home?"

"I heard something about bringing us in for questioning," muttered Snake; he was twiddling a cigarette stuck between his teeth. "People just don't die that way, do they?"

"Well, one of them just did," replied the blue falcon. "Well, I'll just be here, dying of boredom, in my bedroom." And with that, he walked up where he could catch a few Z's.

* * *

The next two days passed without event, and the time to lay the fallen puffball had come. Out in the mansion's garden, a casket was placed on an elevated platform, and beneath it was a gaping mouth of the earth, waiting for its new meal. Everyone sat before it, many with a feigned solemn look on their faces.

Master Hand began his obituary. "We gather here, to say our farewells to a dear friend of ours, who has departed to the afterlife…"

And as the giant hand droned on and on, Fox turned his gaze away, and looked at other things, to distract him from that terrible sight of a body, laying there. His eyes fell on a bundle of weapons that Toon Link had left lying around, a few candy wrappers left by Kirby, and a magnificent pane of ice, sculpted by Popo and Nana, to the finest detail. One might even say that it was a gigantic window for some holy church. But as he looked closer, he noticed one thing.

There was a crack. A long, slender crack ran up the monolith, generating a chill down Fox's spine. There was something eerie about it, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He couldn't help but look back.

"…we will miss her very much," concluded Master Hand. He floated away towards the building. A murmur slowly rose, as everyone got up and made their way back in.

"Fox, are you coming in?"

He turned and noticed the sweet princess hailing from the Mushroom Kingdom looking back at him, her gloved hand on the door. "You don't seem very well," she continued. "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I just have this really bad feeling, like, like someone else is going to die soon."

"I'm sure it's nothing. You're just a little shaken up, that's all." Her wavering tone suggested otherwise, though.

"But I feel like this happened before… I remember something like a few unexplained accidents that always ended up with someone dead in Corneria once; they were never solved, either."

"Oh, my. I just hope that no one else will…"

"Me, too," Fox said quickly. "Let's go in."

--

If there is one place on Smash property that was tranquil all of the time, then the garden is the place for you. The garden was filled with different types of vegetation, such as food that would be dropped halfway through matches to invigorate fighters, Peach's turnips that she actually has on hand all of the time, and the playground of Olimar's little companions, the Pikmin.

The Pikmin are boisterous little creatures that will get themselves into trouble without proper guidance. If it weren't for Olimar, they probably would be extinct by now. They revere Olimar, bringing him everything he needs (or in some cases, wants).

Unfortunately, they're not very bright.

As Olimar was relaxing, scanning for objects that he could put into the onions, the little plant creatures' curiosity was taken hold by a flower with two eyes staring at them. Thinking that it could be food, the Pikmin dug in, thus starting the Fire Flower's conflagration.

Shrill cries filled the air as the souls of the newly charred floated into the sky. Olimar jumped as he watched all of the Pikmin flee in terror of the blazing plant. He reached for his whistle, but it was to no avail; the onslaught charged head-on, knocking him off his feet as he was pushed into the greenhouse.

Rarely anyone tended to the gardens since it was self-sufficient, so the greenhouse was pretty much abandoned, and as such, was also dangerous. Pot plants were overturned, mold grew on the glass, and equipment was recklessly left everywhere. The swarm started turning back at the other end of the greenhouse, but not before Olimar hit the wall with his helmet, leaving him temporarily dazed.

That period time was long enough for a group of purple Pikmin to jump onto a hoe propped on a fallen pot. With the weight of the minute creatures, the gardening tool soared through the air, and with a sickening thud, broke Olimar's helmet.

Normally, we take in a lot of oxygen and very little methane. The reverse applies for Hocotatians. As his methane supply leaked out into the atmosphere, the door slowly creaked shut. Olimar's face blanched before turning into a deep shade of indigo. The last thing he could see were his troops, clutching at what appeared to be their throats before they expired.

* * *

**Well, there's another chapter and character down! Keep those reviews coming for the poor Pikmin who died to make this fic possible.**

**bows head in silence**


	7. Passing Stories and Gas?

**Wow, you guys sure love this fic. Thanks to Bustman for constantly reviewing this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own characters here. Only the plot is mine.**

--ここ始まるぞ！--

_He couldn't wait to surprise her with his gift. Once she had safely gone from sight, he stepp__ed into the finest jewelry store in the mall._

_"Ah, Mr. McCloud! What brings you here?" asked a wizened old turtle, lifting his gaze from a sparkling diamond._

_"Um, I'm here to buy something for erm, uh…"_

_"No need to say any more. May I suggest this?" the turtle croaked as he took out a small velvet case. Fox cradled it in his hands and opened it. Upon first sight, he knew she would like it._

--

Fox woke up in a cold sweat. Something didn't feel right. He turned over to his alarm clock and saw it read 00:23. He groaned; once he woke up, it'd take him another 2 hours to try to get to sleep. Resigning himself to fate, he woke up and walked down to the kitchen.

The chefs were all in their cozy little beds, so Fox was left with his own cooking skills, which he didn't have full confidence of. So to avoid destroying a part of the mansion, he decided to work with something that didn't include an oven. Cutting himself two slices of bread, his hand moved towards the jelly jar. Smearing the raspberry-flavoured jelly onto the bread with the knife, his attention was captured by the jar of peanut butter sitting innocently next to the jelly. He gulped; he never liked peanut butter. The only time he tried peanut butter was when Krystal urged him to, and that ended up with his tongue glued to the top of his mouth.

He stood there, staring at the jar of sticky condiment. "It was just a one-time thing," he reassured himself. What are the chances of it happening again? He spread the peanut butter on top of the jelly and chomped down. After having it go down his throat, he felt that not all of it went down. Sprinting over to the water dispenser, he gulped down a deluge of water that would've put Squirtle to shame.

As he wiped his mouth, he thought about what Jigglypuff must've felt as the last breath of life left her. Kinda like what happened before...

A small sound made him jump. He looked around. Who would be up at this time of night? He slowly backed away, his eyes looking towards the looming dark. A shot of pain suddenly shot up from his tail and he yelped in shock. Turning around, he saw a little flame dancing on his tail. Hastily putting it out, he turned his attention to the source of pain that inflicted this disgrace upon him.

It was the stove. A burner was radiating a red glow, humming with energy coursing through its coils. Fox twisted the knob from max to off. He swore that it was off before. After finishing his sandwich hastily, he sneaked back up to his room, hoping no one noticed his late night trip.

Closing the door behind him, he let out a sigh of relief; he heard tell of Ike being caught by Crazy Hand, and never was the same again. He looked down at his clock. 00:23. He frowned. Was it broken? He brought his hand down on it in the form of a karate chop, causing the LED to momentarily scramble itself before stopping at 00:32. "There," he smirked. As he was about to settle into bed, he looked out the window. A gibbous moon hung in the sky, bathing all in a pearly-white light. As he was about to withdraw into his comfy blankets, he noticed a silhouette down by the lakeside.

"Who on earth would be awake in the middle of the night?" He left his room, evading any possible floating gloves floating around in the dark. As he exited the mansion, he turned left, towards where he'd take his weekly swim.

The lake was a beautiful sight: the water was still, creating a duplicate world of everything above it. He scanned the shore for the figure he saw down here, but there was no one else in sight. As he was about to go back to bed, he heard a clatter of china meeting each other. Quickly turning around, hand on blaster, he was met with a saucer and a smoking cup of tea on top.

"Peach! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she giggled. "Tea?"

Fox's mind instantly went into overdrive; he recalled how she served him tea after that brief skirmish with Sheik, and how it was the exact same fragrance. Taking the cup from her, he sipped it down, experiencing the warmth spreading throughout his body.

"This is great!" he exclaimed. Downing it all in two gulps, he realized that she was staring at the calm waters before them. "Um, are you ok, Peach?"

"What? Oh yes, I'm fine, I was just thinking..."

"About Jigglypuff?"

"No. I've been thinking about what you've been saying about those unexplained accidents in Corneria."

"What about them?"

"I remember a few mishaps in the Mushroom Kingdom. A few people also died during those incidents. The strange thing was that they were all accidents; no one could pin it on anyone."

"You don't think that the others have had the same thing happen to them too, do you?" Fox questioned.

"It is a possibility." She got up and started going back in. "It's already late. Let's go back in."

--

The next day, everyone got up as usual and went down for breakfast. Halfway through, Fox took a big gulp.

"What's wrong, Mr. McCloud?" Ness asked.

Fox rose from his seat. "Everyone, I'd like to ask you all something." Everyone turned their gaze towards him. "In your worlds, have you heard anything about unexplainable accidents that killed people?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific." Marth twirled his goblet, contents sloshing inside. "Accidents are frequent in Altea, and people have died before."

"What about cases where a lot of people have died in one stroke?"

"Ah!" Ike clapped a hand to his forehead. "I remember how our rations were set on fire and burned down the entire camp! Some of us managed to escape because of a mission."

"That's odd," Bowser sniffled. He took a deep breath and began. "Something like that happened to me too. It was a day like any other. I just kidnapped the princess when those two--" he gestures towards both Mario and Luigi-- "decided to drop in."

"And?" Marth prodded further.

"I sent my troops out to drive them away, and when I heard the first line of defense fell, I decided to set out. But my advisor Kamek said that he would go in my stead. So he left. Later, I got word that the bridge collapsed and every one of troops died, including Kamek."

"But-a I thought Kamek-a had a broom," Mario recalled.

"Yeah, well, he needs to concentrate for that. He got shocked and fell down."

"I see." Fox put his hand to his mouth, deep in thought. "What do all of these have in common?"

"Um…"

"I'm not sure…"

"Hold on just a minute!" Everyone turned towards Samus. "Where's Olimar?"

Everyone scanned the tables, but there was no sign of the miniscule Hocotatian. He was sometimes late for breakfast, but he'd never miss it. With almost all of the dishes wiped clean from everyone's voracious appetites, everyone started worrying.

They got up and started searching the entire building. After an hour's search, they gathered in the main hall.

"Any sign of him?"

"No. Where could he hide? Goddamn, how I wish he was a bit bigger."

"Well, where is he usually?"

"The garden!" pierced the awkward silence and everyone ran out the doors. When they set foot into the garden, they noticed how a few plants were upturned. Lucario scanned for Olimar's aura, but to no avail.

"It's no use," he boomed. "I can't sense him anywhere."

"I don't think he'd run away, would he?" Meta Knight pondered.

"I doubt it," Fox muttered. Bowser went ahead, scouting anything out of the ordinary. When he turned the corner, he saw—

"Guys, come look at this!"

Everyone rushed over and looked in the direction Bowser was pointing. There, they saw the abandoned greenhouse that they never used. Within in they saw a variety of tools strewn out on the ground.

"Something happened there, I just know it!" Fox cried.

"Wait." Lucario interrupted. "We never used the greenhouse, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"In that case, it's normal for there to be a clutter of junk, especially because there are a few careless people here…"

"Hey!" Red exclaimed.

"Either way, we won't know for sure unless we go in." Fox regained his composure. "Now who to go in…"

"We have no idea what's inside there, we'd better nominate someone who won't get hurt as easily." Snake piped up.

"I'll go," Bowser gulped. "And I'm taking this lardball with me." He dragged Wario down towards the glass structure, against his "what does this-a have to do with-a me?!".

Opening the doors, they found nothing out of the ordinary. A small gurgle from Wario's stomach startled Bowser.

"Found anything yet?!" everyone asked outside.

"Nothing!" Bowser yelled back with some difficulty. "It's getting a bit hard to breathe, though!"

"Hard to breathe?" Fox thought. The feeling that made his fur stand up on end was back. Something's just not right…

"Aha! I found Olimar, but my…"

"What? What do you see?"

"I think he's dead, and his helmet's broken…"

"He takes extreme care with his helmet… Snake, do you remember what Olimar said about it?" Meta Knight asked.

"I do," Snake nodded. "He said that Hocotatians can't take in a lot of oxygen, so he constructed that suit to supply him with methane."

Methane… broken helmet…

"Shit! Bowser, Wario, get out of there now! Everyone, run!" Fox screamed.

"Can't, hold-a, it, in, anymore…" Wario sighed and let out a nasty fart that puts skunks to shame.

"Augh, that's sick!" Bowser coughed.

Now here's something I feel that all of you should know. Methane is extremely volatile, as well as flammable. Bowser's cough creates a few sparks. Put two and two together and…

BOOM!

The explosion threw everyone off their feet. Shards of glass shot through the air and cut everyone. Blood peppered the grass and stained it a brilliant crimson hue. Fox looked around; the greenhouse was a pile smouldering remains, and everyone else was wincing in pain. Worrying, Fox ran over to what was left of the greenhouse. As he dug through the debris, his stomach turned at what he saw was left of the charred bodies and lost today's breakfast as the Koopa king's right burnt eye dangled out of its socket.

--つづく—

**Well, two more people dead and charred. Stay tuned, there****'s more from where that came from!**

**Remember to R&R!**


	8. The Psychicatrist Is In

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. See chapters 1, 2, 3 or any chapter that actually has this… This is just here for the heck of it.**

――ここから行くぜ！――

_Making sure that Krystal was­ nowhere in sight, Fox whipped out his phone._

_"Hello? I'd like to make…"_

--

"Dammit, why is this happening?!" Fox, in a fit of rage, left a dent in the wall with his fist. "First Jigglypuff, then Olimar, now Bowser and Wario!" Snarling, he turned to the others, who looked at him in shock; Fox had never, ever shown this angry side of him to anyone.

"There was nothing you could do," Meta Knight cut in.

"What are you talking about? Of course I could have done something! We could've never gone searching for Olimar, and they'd still be here, alive and well!"

"Can you guarantee that?" Fox looked at Meta Knight. "Who's to say that they wouldn't have died another way?"

"What are you rambling on about?"

"Inevitability. We'll all die in the end, and we were supposed to die a month ago."

"So you're saying that something wants us dead?"

"You could say that."

"That is by far one of the craziest things I've ever heard."

"It's the best explanation we've got so far. I can't think of anyone here that can explain it better than I can."

"Hey," Red cut in. "I was just thinking; what about--?"

--

Fox shuddered. Why did he ever agree to meet him in the first place?

-/-

_"Oh, no, I'm not going to talk to him," Fox said, putting his hands up in refusal._

_"You're the one who feels guilty about the four dying," Zelda interjected. "Well, two, then," she corrected as Fox rolled his eyes._

_"Even if I did want to talk to him, I have no idea where he even is now. No one saw him after the last tournament, did they?"_

_"We might not know where he is, but I have a hunch," Lucario replied._

-/-

As Fox journeyed up the mountain, he started feeling a little light-headed. Once or twice he almost lost his balance which would've sent him tumbling into the deep ravine. Persevering, he mustered all his willpower and climbed up to the summit. He saw for an instant a strange cat-like creature, hovering seven inches off the ground with a light blue aura around it. He whispered, "Mewtwo…" and then his world went black.

_Wake up_, a voice resounded in the vulpine's subconscious.

"Who's there?" he mumbled groggily.

_Wake up_, the voice commanded again.

A heavy weight on his chest seemed to have been lifted off. A strange lightness overcame his body, and he slowly floated towards a crack in the never-ending darkness, a faint crack of light. As he passed through, there was nothing around but light as far as the eye could see. However, it began to gradually dim; the crack in the ground was now exuding the darkness into this odd world. He braced himself as a torrent of it launched into him—

Fox opened his eyes. The light-headed feeling had dissipated. He could think clearly again! He looked to his left, and saw the being, Mewtwo, as he christened it, floated before him.

_Fox_, he telepathically transmitted. _What brings you up here to disturb my meditation?_

"Er, I came to ask you—"

_About the deaths that happened recently?_ Fox looked at him inquiringly. _I can read minds. Did you forget?_

"Oh, right."

_I will tell you this. I know very little on the subject of death._

"You and the rest of the world."

_I was also created by artificial means. I can even say what life is really like._

"I can't remember much of my early childhood. But what do you think death is?"

_There are so many different interpretations on death. Some say it's a force. Others say it is a sentient being that exists, but cannot be seen, heard, or felt._

"But what do you think it is?"

_It seems… plausible for it to be sentient. From what I understand from your memories, all those that have died so far have died under abnormal circumstances. Is there anything that was out of the ordinary, even before these accidents occurred?_

"We were about to go for a pre-tournament vacation."

_And why didn't you?_

"Because I-I—" Fox paused. People already thought of him as mad; would Mewtwo assume the same? Going against his gut feeling, he finished his sentence. "I had a premonition."

_A premonition, you say?_ Mewtwo looked bemused. _Please continue._

And so Fox retold his story, from before the accident to afterwards. Mewtwo was deep in thought the entire time, and when Fox finished, he asked, _have you ever been in close contact with a psychic for a long period of time?_

"Erm, I dated a psychic a few years ago, if that's what you mean."

_I see… On the topic of your premonition, do you recall what order they died in?_

"I don't think so… what does that have to do with anything?"

_What part of premonition do you not understand?_ Fox stares at Mewtwo, dumbfounded, before it clicked in his mind.

"Oh. It's a bit hazy now, and I can't remember some bits of it. But even if I do, it's not going to help us survive, is it?"

_Don't be too sure. If you think of death as some sort of a creature, then there is a way to keep it at bay, both temporarily and permanently. But that, you will have to find out on your own._ _Look for the signs; they'll help you, if you can figure what they are._

"Uh, thanks for the advice." Fox bowed and slowly began his descent down the mountain. Halfway down the light-headed feeling came back to him.

Oh crap.

--

"So did you find him?" Meta Knight questioned.

"I sure did," Fox replied.

"And what did he say?"

And after a brief explanation, everyone was either in shock or in disbelief. Murmurs were exchanged and they all asked the question they've been waiting to hear a suitable answer to: "Can we survive?"

Fox shrugged his head. "He was being all mysterious. He said that if death was a creature, then there are ways to stop it temporarily and permanently."

"Some help that was," Ike muttered. "Well, I guess we're all gonna sit here and let our heads get ripped off sooner or later."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I haven't seen you done anything but bitch, Ike." Ganondorf stepped towards Ike and gave him an evil sneer as Ike returned it.

"He did tell me one thing useful, though," Fox cut in before either of them could cause bodily harm to the other. All eyes were back on him. "He said that there was an order in my premonition—"

"You mean your delusion, right?" Wolf jeered.

"—and that there are signs that we have to look out for," Fox finished, ignoring the brash lupine completely.

"And what are these signs?" Meta Knight asked briskly.

"I don't know; he didn't exactly go into detail as to what they were. We should just look for anything suspicious and report it to everyone."

The doors behind the vulpine opened. The white glove that brought them all here floated calmly into the room as the doors closed behind him.

"I heard everything," Master Hand declared. "Something I would like to hear is this order that you died in."

"You don't seriously believe him, do you?" Wolf sighed exasperatedly.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Wolf threw up his hands and fell back into the crowd. "Anyways, Fox, tell us the order in which everyone died."

"That's the problem. I can only remember bits of it."

"Such as?"

"Well, Jigglypuff was first, that's for sure. Then it was Olimar, then Bowser and Wario. But now I'm starting to get a little hazy here…"

"That's ok. Keep going."

"After a few more deaths, I remember seeing Kirby being ripped into shreds by a stray piece of metal…" Kirby gave an involuntary shudder, cringing in fear. "Wait… before that I remember Pikachu and the Ice Climbers falling off the Halberd and chopped into little bits by a turbine…" Nana fainted. Popo ran over to support her. "And…"

"How about you just write down the order? I think some of us are getting a bit perturbed with your descriptions."

Fox shrugged. As a piece of paper was brought before him, he jotted down all the names he could remember:

XXXXXX (Jigglypuff)  
XXXXXX (Olimar)  
XXXXXX (Bowser)  
XXXXXX (Wario)  
Pikachu  
Ice Climbers  
Kirby  
Ness  
Ganondorf  
Falco  
Wolf  
Peach  
Fox

"That's all I can remember right now."

"No matter. I'm sure you'll remember the rest of them later," the glove consoled Fox. "However—" he turned to address everyone—"be on your utmost guard. Assume you're going to be the next to die." Everyone gulped but nodded at Master Hand's grim predicament.

--

As everyone was getting for bed, Fox scanned the retreating mass of people for that person to talk to. He spotted her, talking to Mario and Luigi (whose face turned the palest white humanely possible). As Mario patted Peach's shoulder in comfort, Fox felt a pang in his stomach. He wasn't… jealous, right?

As he stepped into his room, confusion clouded his heart. "But Krystal came before Peach…" He shook his head; Krystal was out of his life. He admitted that he can't completely let go of her, but knew that he had to move on. As he snuggled into his bed, he slowly slipped from consciousness to dreams of that sweet princess ruling over a land of mushrooms…

--

In the wee hours of the morning, the young Pokémon trainer woke up to the faint gleam of the sun behind the curtains. "It's going to be a great day to train Squirtle and the others," he smiled. As he went to change his clothes and to get his three Pokémon, he didn't notice the fluttering of the black drapes when there was no breeze coming in.

--つづく—

**Well, no death this chapter. Disappointed? Don't worry; I'm planning another multi-death soon, so, stay tuned!**


	9. Close The Door When You're Done

Well, here's that multi-death chapter I promised you guys

**Well, here's that multi-death chapter I promised you guys.**

…**and I just gave it away.**

--また始まった、な？--

_Looking in every store his girlfriend would have possibly gone into, Fox was terribly disappointed. She was nowhere in sight. Cheeks flushed, he entered the most popular lingerie store in the entire entire city._

_As he browsed around for his other half, all the young females' gazes were fixed onto him; slowly, but surely, a "Fox McCloud, have my babies!" fanclub trailed behind him._

_Being a celebrity is tough._

--

Barely anyone woke up before 7:00 AM (unless you count the late night trips that some of them make to other rooms...), and Fox was no exception. He was awoken by something that he cherished and loathed: his alarm clock.

An ear-piercing tone resounded throughout the room (as well as probably the entire floor) before it was silenced by a hand clenched in annoyance. Smacking his lips, he groggily made his way towards his wardrobe.

--  
The Identical Wardrobe Phenomenon

Game (as well as anime) characters will have a very bland wardrobe collection including the same outfit copied over 9000 goddamn times. They never get tired of it, either, proving what no-lifers they are.  
--

Well, the fighters have been getting out of this habit, one step at a time. Everything they owned was in a myriad of colours. "I'll wear the same thing as yesterday," he thought. He did, however, decide to dye his fur with that new body bleach he bought a few days ago. As he came out of his room, he blended into the dimly lit hallway with his sleek dark fur.

His stomach directed him towards a nice meal. "But the cooks aren't up yet…" His stomach gave another involuntary gurgle. "Ok, ok, I'm going down." Slipping down the stairwell, he moved towards the kitchen. On the way, he heard footsteps, and they weren't his.

Grasping his blaster, Fox slinked through the hallway adjoining the kitchen and peered through the doorway. No one was in sight. Frowning slightly, he quickly whisked around and pointed straight ahead. Nothing was there either. Relaxing his grip, he walked over to the where the bread was left. Lamenting over how he can't make anything else but a sandwich, he swiftly got to work, after cringing at the mess all over the kitchen.

Looks like he wasn't the only one making late night trips.

Red was silent as he crept out of his room. No one was up yet. Making sure all three of his Pokémon were safely tucked in their Pokéballs, he closed the door behind him and tiptoed down towards the entrance, before a universal force stopped him.

"Aw, not now!" he moaned, clutching his stomach in hunger. Admitting defeat, he went towards the kitchen. When he entered, he saw the scraps of late night snacks strewn across the floor. "Well, the chefs aren't going to be happy about this," he muttered to himself. As he was going for the cereal left in the corner, he stopped; he heard a sudden movement behind him. Staying quite still, he turned around briskly. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Could the other person be hiding behind the counter?

Fox felt the soak of cold sweat against his fur as he held his blaster up beside the side of his head. Could there really be a murderer? Risking it all on the spot, he suddenly rose, blaster pointing straight away, and cried, "Freeze!"

Red was shocked when a black Fox pointed that weird looking gun of his at him. As a reflex, he jumped and slipped on a greasy banana peel, causing him to careen towards the open freezer clearly left that way after a night raid by a certain pink blob. As he went in, the freezer door slammed shut, not opening to the cries and slams from Fox.

This freezer is also the breeding place for Freezies. Because of this, Red knew that he wouldn't last very long in here without sufficient heat. Thinking quickly, he threw a Pokéball to the ground. A blinding light filled the room and a large fire-breathing dragon was left in its place.

"Charizard, warm up this place!" Charizard happily obliged, releasing a flamethrower. It still cold, but perfect for humans. However, the flame started causing some ice near its range to melt into water, dripping off the shelves. One collapsed shelf above Charizard, housed a sack of potatoes which was held in place by a chunk of ice, and as that melted, the sack came tumbling down onto Charizard's head, knocking him out for the count.

As the flame died down, the cold begin to seep back in. Red grasped for the handle, but collapsed before he got there. His body started to slow down from the cold, and expired. Meanwhile, all the melted ice solidified again, and formed icicles where the water dripped off of.

Charizard regained consciousness and saw his master, frozen dead. In a roar of sorrow, Charizard shot straight up.

Right into the ice stalactites. The ice went straight through his skull. As his body crashed to the floor, the freezer door clicked, signaling that it was now unlocked.

The commotion down in the kitchen woke almost everyone up. The pitter-patter of footsteps crashed down the stairwells as everyone saw Fox, dyed a night-black shade, banging on the door.

"Fox, what are you doing?" Meta Knight asked.

"Red's trapped in there!"

Samus, getting tired of the unnecessary pounding, walked over to the door, and pushed it open.

"Good enough for you?"

As the cold air billowed out, they saw both the trainer's cold corpse and the dragon's impaled carcass.

"Well, we now know who was supposed to be next," Ganondorf drawled.

"Don't you care that two of us just died?" Link questioned suspiciously. Ganondorf turned a deaf ear towards him.

"If that's the case, then…" Fox shuddered as he touched the clammy Pokéballs. He threw the remaining two to the ground as Ivysaur and Squirtle were summoned.

"Hey, what's going on?" the turtle tiredly asked.

"I was looking forward to continuing my beauty nap," Ivysaur groaned.

"Well, while you two were sleeping in your little balls, your master and fellow companion just died from hypothermia!" Ivysaur and Squirtle stared in shock as they looked in the direction Fox was pointing in. "And guess what? Both of you are next."

"W-w-we can't be, right?" Squirtle giggled nervously.

"I knew that you all died together, though I'm not sure exactly when in premonition it was."

"S-s-so which one of us is next?" Squirtle mumbled.

"I believe it's you," Fox replied grimly. Too much to bear, Squirtle's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fainted. Everyone started looking at the still turtle's body, still heaving up and down with the breath of life.

"We better keep an eye out for Squirtle," Meta Knight said. Everyone nodded.

The tension was thick in the air. Every eye was on the blue turtle whenever he walked through the hallways. He hated it.

"Ok, guys, this isn't funny," he snapped. "The constant surveillance I can understand, but watching me in the bathroom is going way too far!"

"We're doing this for your own good," Snake pointed out.

"I don't need to know that people like a smelly old man and an angel that hasn't even hit puberty yet are looking at me whenever I'm going for a piss or taking a shit. I'm going back to bed." He waddled back towards his room.

"Smelly old man?" Snake fumed. He turned towards the bounty hunter. "Uh, Samus, you don't think I'm a smelly old man, do you?"

"I don't agree with the 'old.'" Snake perked up. "But the 'smelly' says otherwise." His head drooped back down with shame, as he urged his feet to take him away from the terrible woman with the sharp tongue.

"What's puberty?" Pit asked Marth.

"I wouldn't ask him if I were you," Wolf cut in before Marth could say anything. "He hasn't hit puberty either; go ask Captain Falcon. He's just teeming with 'manliness,'" he finished, rolling his eyes.

"I most definitely have!" Marth fumed, cheeks flushed in anger. "I demand you show me respect!"

"Or else what? You're going to kill me with your little tea parties?" Peach turned away at this in embarrassment.

Marth drew closer. "Or else I will tell everyone your secret." Wolf's eyes widened with horror.

"You wouldn't."

"I would. Look who the sissy is now."

"Say Marth, don't you have a show to watch?" Ike asked curiously; he hadn't heard what the Altean prince and the space pirate were talking about.

"Oh, yes, I do!" he replied happily. As he was about to leave, he turned back to Wolf. "Remember the reverence, or else I might let loose a few words."

"Are you coming?" Ike asked impatiently; Marth always made him watch that sitcom with the latter. He wanted to get it over with. The effeminate prince skipped towards the sulking Crimean, as they both went upstairs. Wolf just stood there, jaw agape. If anyone else found out about his little secret, he might even look forward when his turn came up to be brutally mutilated by some carefully planned out means.

"Hmph! I can take care of myself!"

The miniature turtle paced his late master's room. Nothing had changed much. The door opened and the dinosaur-esque bulb-carrying Pokémon walked in.

"What do you want?" Squirtle asked suspiciously.

"I just came in to check up on you."

"Yeah? Well I don't need no babysitting!"

"I came of my own accord," Ivysaur explained. "Anyways, I think you're overreacting."

"Overreacting!? Is it my fault that people keep gawking at me, thinking that I'll die from a peanut lodged in my throat?!" Squirtle moved over to the black drapes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll take a look at the view, while I'm going to be looked over by who I thought was my companion!" He moved to pull the curtains aside, when it came loose and fell on him, cutting off any small glimpse of vision. "Agh! Someone help!"

"Hold still!" Ivysaur commanded. Concentrating on the flailing figure within the mass of black, he shot two razor leaves at it, shattering the window.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Squirtle screamed as he felt the whizz of the sharp plant projectiles missing him by a few mere centimeters. The confusion left him to wander around, and the drapes caused him to trip.

Right over the broken window and the guardrails.

As he fell down, something wrapped around his abdomen. His descent slowed down to a complete halt, and as he was launched back up, the sheets came off. As he was going up, Ivysaur was going down. Squirtle could only let out a shrill "No!" as he landed on the bedroom floor. A sickening "splat" followed a few seconds later.

The thump of footsteps crashed into the room as everyone stared at the teary-eyed Squirtle.

"I guess I was wrong…" Fox stared down at the ground in disbelief. Was his memory failing him?

--つづく--

**Woo, another chapter done! This sure was a heck of a lot to write. Anyways, there you have it: the Pokémon death chappie. Hope you all enjoyed this one, and will continue to give me your wonderful feedback right here.**

**Keep posted for more updates!**


	10. Always Stretch Beforehand

**Well, here's the next chapter that all of you guys were looking forward to!**

** Bustman: The order's already been planned in chapter 3. And I'll think about it. I'll think about it.**

** Shadow Minamoto: I didn't put a few other characters in this as well, seeing as that I'm already handling more than I can.**

* * *

_Narrowly escaping the crazed mob of admirers, Fox snuck out of the lingerie store. He really didn't understand why they still crowded around him, despite the fact that everyone knows he's engaged._

_Everything was set. Now all that was needed was for the time to come…_

---

Fox twiddled his thumbs as he bit his lip. He made a mistake, and yet he definitely remembered that Squirtle went first. How could this be? Closing his eyes and feeling the wind brush against his fur, he rested his arms against the railing, fearing the fate that awaits him.

_Perhaps I should die and end it all_. _That way I won't have to see the others die_, his inner voice reasoned.

But then, another voice dug out from the recesses of his subconscious. _What point is there in dying? I don't want to die. I still want to live!_

As the two voices argued with each other, he didn't notice the person walking towards him.

"Fox, you've been out of it lately." The vulpine turned his head and saw his best friend with his arms crossed. "You've got to snap out of it! It's not your fault!"

"How is it not my fault?" Fox shot back. "I knew how everyone was gonna die and I could've saved them! Tell me how I can live with this!"

"Snap out of it!" Falco shook Fox with vigor. "What the hell's gotten into you? This isn't the Fox McCloud that I know!"

"Well, maybe you should look somewhere else."

"Fine!" Falco stormed off before turning back. "Maybe the McCloud I know is already dead!" He slammed the door shut behind him, rattling the room's walls.

Fox was unperturbed by this outburst. He stared out to the cerulean lake. The sparkling waters were mesmerizing. It was fascinating, almost alluring, even, as it seemingly beckoned out to Fox.

_Come down here… come now…_

Entranced by the waters, Fox had a sudden urge to go down there. It looked so peaceful, where nothing could hurt him. He was about to go when—

"McCloud, what the fuck are you doing?!"

Fox blinked. He suddenly realized that one of his legs was resting over the guardrail. Turning around, he saw his lifelong rival, full of seething rage. Wolf stomped over and pulled him back. Fox was dragged out of his room and into the hallway, where the lupine pinned him to the wall.

"I don't know what you were thinking of," said Wolf. "But the only way that you're going to die is by my hand. No one else's!" And with a swish of his bushy tail, he released the vulpine and left.

Fox stared blankly at his bedroom door. Was he steadily going mad? _Maybe I'd be better off in a room where nothing could happen to me._

He shook out of his reverie and decided to go for a swim in the lake. The fascination was just too much for him.

---

As he went down, he passed the training room, where Link and his cartoon counterpart were busily sparring. Even though the tournament was indefinitely postponed, they still honed their skills, so that when it did reopen, they would come out as the best.

"Hey, Fox, where you going?" Link asked. Fox had just walked past, clutching a towel and his swimming trunks.

"Hmm? Oh, hey, Link…s," he finished as Toon Link glared at him. "Me? I'm just going down to the lake for a swim."

"Oh. Well, do you mind if we join you? We need a quick bath anyways and we're too lazy to go the showers."

_Ew._ "No, I don't mind."

---

The golden sands of the shore glittered in the afternoon sun. Two seagulls circled the middle of the lake, crying shrilly. A little dock jutted out from land. Changed into proper garb, the swordsman and humanoid fox dived into the water.

"Ah, this is the life!" sighed Toon Link. Floating on their backs, watching the clouds glide in the air, the three them drifted lazily through the water without a care in the world.

--

Link's thoughts drifted over to Zelda. Over the past week or two, their relationship grew tighter than ever. Zelda's excuse was that they could die at any time, and that it was important for them to spend the few remaining moments of their life together.

Toon Link was thinking about the charming girl that always wowed him, both in combat and out. There was something about Nana that attracted him to her. It could've been her icy-blue eyes, her sleek brown hair, or her cheery attitude. She had always cheered him on, and every time she did, a warm fuzzy feeling grew deep from within him.

Fox… well, his thoughts too, slid over to romance. He, like Toon Link, was thinking about his unrequited love interest, Peach. Even though his inner war between Krystal and the fair princess was still waging, the scales were steadily tipping in favour of the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. He soon fell into a scene where he was kneeling in front of her, presenting her with a box that would cause all women to gasp in delight.

Their contemplations were brought to an abrupt halt as the bell clanged for dinner.

"Well, looks like we gotta go back in." Fox started to breaststroke towards the shore. "Race you there!" He cried to the two swordsmen.

The rapid splashing and parting of the waters broke the thick silence. Fox clambered back onto the shore, proclaiming himself the winner. "Looks like I won—" but his ego was soon deflated with fear.

Link and Toon Link were a few meters away from the shallow end when they suddenly went into spasms. "CRAMP!" they simultaneously shouted. In desperation, the two of them started clawing at the liquid prison around them, but the fluid cunningly slipped from their flailing limbs time and time again.

_Shit! They're going to die, and I can't do anything!_ the furry pilot thought. He uttered a shrill cry of "HELP!" before looking for anything for the two to grasp onto. He ran to the end of the dock before finding a device that suited the purpose.

A buoy attached to a long rope dangled on a post. Thinking quickly, Fox ripped it off its stand, and threw it at the two strugglers. "Grab on to it!" he shouted. As he felt a tug from the other side, he laid on the dock, steadily pulling the two towards him.

A commotion burst from behind him, everyone was there, witnessing Fox saving both Links. Just then, they lost consciousness, and their grips slackened and they were close to the shore.

The stronger fighters like Snake and Captain Falcon waded through the water and brought the unresponsive swordsmen to shore.

"Looks like they've got water in their lungs, and they're not breathing," Snake reported after a thorough survey of the two. "We need to act fast."

"How?" questioned Ike.

"CPR" was the reply.

Marth, with an evil gleam in his eye, pushed the silver-furred wolf to the front.

"What was that for?!" he growled, as it dawned upon him.

"Fuck no."

* * *

**Well, I'm leaving it there. The next chapter will determine whether or not they live or die, though it's somewhat obvious.**

**By the way, there was a very obscure Harry Potter reference here. Can you spot it?**

**Fox: I can tell you that it's when—**

**Me: Ah, ah, ah. No spoilers. Let them find out.**

**On another note, I am writing another SSB fic alongside this one, so the updates will be coming in slower. If you're interested, you can also check that one out. Chapter 1's almost finished.  
**

**Until next time! Cheers!**


	11. Off Limits

**Yep, this is the 11****th**** chapter, where you get to find out whether or not the Links survive or not.**

**

* * *

**---  
_"Ah, there you are," Krystal said._

"_Um? Oh. Wanna go to a movie?" Fox replied nervously, trying to keep his mind clear. It was hard especially if your girlfriend is a mind-reader and tonight's the night._

"_Sure. Which one?"_

"_Um…"  
---_

Everyone waited nervously as they waited for the news. Would it be fortunate enough for both of them to live, or bad enough for at least one of them to die?

The doors opened and everyone looked at Mario in doctor's clothing. "They'll-a be all right-a," he announced. "They just swallowed water, but that's taken care of. Just give them a bit of rest and they'll be up in no time."

Sighs of relief resounded throughout the room. After the news, everyone left to carry out their daily business, as if nothing had happened. As Fox was about to leave, someone behind him stopped him.

"Too much of a coincidence, eh?" Snake hissed. Fox frowned; was Snake accusing him of something?

"Are you trying to say something, Snake?" Fox replied coolly.

"Oh, not really. Just thinking as to why they'd both nearly drown at the same time."

"Look, I have no idea either, so I'm just as lost as you."

Fox pushed past Snake, infuriated, as he went back to his sulking.

Fox started worrying. During the wait for the news of Links' fate, he had pieced back together his premonition. He was also sure that it was perfectly accurate. So why was it that Squirtle survived? Wouldn't death make another attempt at his life? Why did it skip over to the Heroes of Time? _There was a pattern_, he thought; why was it all out of whack? He tried pondering about it a bit more.

That's when it hit him. It couldn't have been that simple, right? Could it have just been…?

But then, that meant…

"Snake!" He jumped to his feet, hoping his legs would bring him to the war-hardened mercenary on time.

And what was Snake doing, at this very moment? Why, he was on a secret mission.

A secret mission into Samus' bedroom, that is.

As he slinked towards the front door, he paused. He chuckled; this was just way too obvious. Reaching into his inventory, he dug out a pair of rubber gloves and grasped the doorknob. A slight crackle was heard.

"Gotcha," he laughed; his rubber gloves had insulated the electric-charged doorknob. He slowly opened the door slowly. As he walked in, his left leg caught on something. Looking down, he saw a trip wire, and his face dawned in realization. Hastily jumping backwards, he nearly got grazed by a metal rod that came swinging down from the ceiling.

He frowned. This wasn't going to be as easy as he thought. Thinking hastily, he called for help on his codec. He set his frequency to his trusted partner.

"Otacon, you there?"

"Wha—Snake! This is sudden!" he stammered, as the sound of zipping pants travelled through Snake's ears.

"…Otacon, am I, uh, interrupting you?" Snake asked, eyebrows raised. He's never seen _this_ side of Otacon before. Guess scientists that never get any have to do it sometimes as well.

"No! No, not at all! So what is it that you need me to do?!"

"I need you to run a full scan over the coordinates I'm giving you," Snake replied, giving said coordinates. There was a brief pause of the other side of the transmission. "Uh, Otacon? You there?"

"Snake…"

"What?"

"The coordinates you gave me… is this Samus' bedroom?"

"So what if it is?"

"You never learn, do you, Snake."

"I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about."

"The last two times you tried infiltrating her room ended with you going to the infirmary," Otacon reminded him. "What makes you think you'll get in this time?"

"Haven't you heard? Third time's the charm." Otacon groaned; every time a voluptuous, albeit violent, lady was involved, Snake had a body of titanium and a mind like a piranha.

"Snake, exactly what can make you stop doing stupid things? It gets annoying after a while."

"Nothing can stop me and my target." Then he paused. Or was there? The string of deaths that occurred in the mansion… what if he was the next one to go? Did he really want to risk it?

And now he's going delusional, he thought to himself. Now he's hearing faint voices that are coming from nowhere. All of a sudden, someone from behind him shook him violently.

"Who the fu—" he started, but found Fox with an unreadable expression on his face. Was it anxiety? Or was it enthusiasm? "Fox, what happened?"

"I just figured out why Squirtle is safe!" Fox exclaimed. His ears were perked.

"Really?" Now _that_ got Snake's attention. "How?"

"Think back… how would Squirtle have died?"

"If I remember correctly, he was going to fall off but Ivysaur—" he stopped. "Are you saying that…?"

"Yeah! He was saved because Ivysaur was there to pull him back up!"

Snake's eyes narrowed. "But Ivysaur died in the end, didn't he? That kind of defeats the purpose if one of us dies trying to save another."

"I didn't drown when I went out to pull both Links onto shore, did I?"

"Touché."

"I think the reason why Ivysaur died was because he just happened to be next in line."

"So you're saying all of us, except for the person after the intended target, should save the victim-to-be?"

"Well, that's basically it."

A crash came from within Samus' room. Fox and Snake stiffened up with shock, and peered in. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, save for a pink liquid substance that was slowly oozing out the doorway.

"What is that?" Snake asked. Fox bent down and took a whiff before recoiling in disgust.

"Bleh. I can't tell whether or not it's soap, shampoo, perfume, or one of those hair tonics Nana keeps using."

"Guess deep down inside, our bounty hunter's still a fashion-obsessed woman," Snake chuckled at his joke as the vulpine joined in.

"Well, let's go tell Master Hand about this discovery." Snake nodded, and took three steps before slipping in the pink concoction. "Look out!" Fox grabbed the agent in time as a stray grenade fell from his pouch.

It rolled in and stopped before the bed. The twang of a trip wire was also heard. A pellet from underneath the bed shot out and hit the grenade, causing it to land into the open closet, and hung from one of the hooks. A plink was heard as it fell to the ground, pin still held in place by the hook.

"Oh, shit, run!!!" Fox screamed. Both of them scrambled as far as they could from the now doomed room. The three seconds seemed to last forever, but the spell was broken as they rounded the corner.

BOOM!

The resulting explosion shook the very foundations of the mansion, as everyone was wondering what the hell just happened. "Everyone report to the dining hall NOW," Master Hand's voice boomed through the halls of the building.

As everyone gathered, the giant hand asked, "OK, who has any information about the giant explosion?"

"It was a grenade, sir." Everyone turned towards Snake and Fox.

"You saw the person throw the grenade?" The other fighters started sizing up Snake, who was the only one _with_ grenades.

"No; it was an accident."

"Really? And where did this happen?" Fox nudged Snake at this point, signaling to him to speak.

"I-In Samus' bedroom." Everyone groaned. Everyone but Samus, that is. Without her power suit on, everyone could see the lines of fury etched on her face, and slowly backed away from her. In one swift motion, she pinned him to the ground and pointed her gun at his forehead.

"Wait, wait!" Fox shoved Samus off.

"You stay out of this, you two-legged fur coat!" she growled.

"Two-legged fur coat?" he muttered angrily to himself. "Anyways," he addressed everyone, "I've discovered how to prevent anymore deaths!"

Everyone paused. Even Samus, who had thoughts of merely ending Snake's family line, stopped to look at the vulpine, who began to explain his theory.

"Wait, so we have to intervene for the person who's about to die?" Zelda asked. Fox nodded in return. "So who's going to be the next victim?" Fox just looked over at Pikachu. "Oh. So who dies after him?"

"Hey!" Pikachu growled, annoyed.

* * *

**At long last, I have updated!**

**Also, just to let you know, I'm simultaneously updating this along with Corrections Policy. This means that I'll upload one chapter from here, SFD, then work on another chapter on CP, and the process repeats himself.**

**In other words, updates will be slower. Ciao!**

**Pikachu: Why does no one like me?!  
Me: What are you talking about? Everyone loves you. NOW GET OUT OF MY A/N NOW.**


	12. Fallen Glory

**~Seitei switches jobs to Writer!~**

**Well, I've got off my lazy butt to give you guys the latest chapter!**

**Seitei uses Disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this franchise or any of its characters. Please see chapter 28 for details. Oops; that doesn't exist yet.

* * *

**"_How about Renee's Unforgettable Day?" asked Fox._

"_Sounds good to me," nodded Krystal. They slowly moved up the escalator to the theatre, as Fox's heart started pumping blood a little harder than usual._

---

Everyone was a little uneasy.

They had just learned a way to give death the slip. They were willing to keep an eye out for each other in case it was their turn for death to pass them. That is, until they found out whom the next victim was.

No one had trusted Pikachu to be the nice guy he claimed he was now. Many still assume that he's a douchebag and that he'll stay that way. He wasn't happy at this.

"Now look here!" Pikachu shouted. Everyone's reactions didn't go well with his fiery temper. "I have just as much right to live as anyone else!"

"If you weren't a douchebag, of course," muttered Falco.

"Keep talking and you'll end up as dinner, bird!" the rodent growled. Falco's wing slid over to his hip and was about to take his blaster out if Fox wasn't there restraining him.

"Anyways," Fox interrupted. "We have to keep an eye out for each other, regardless of whether or not they're nice or not, Falco." The bird threw his wings up into the air in defeat.

Everyone went back to their rooms afterwards.

Link and Toon Link were finally discharged from the emergency ward and had gone back up to their room.

"So, it comes down to this, eh?" Link asked his cartoon counterpart.

"I guess so," replied Toon Link. Their eyes met as they decided on one thing: Pikachu must be saved, no matter how much they hated him.

Unfortunately, they were only a few of the ones who supported this idea; the others were all mulling over the impossible request. The thought of protecting an annoying rodent that swore every five minutes was appalling to Marth.

That evening at dinner, mostly everyone shot Pikachu a dirty glare. Pikachu did nothing and continued to eat his dinner as if nothing happened, though Zelda could have sworn he gave a highly undetectable smirk. She clenched her teeth.

No one gave any thought as to what they should do to "save" Pikachu. What good had that pest brought to them? Absolutely nothing. Never once was he a gentleman. Never once did he help anyone else. Never once did he not laugh at a prank he'd pull on someone.

Pikachu went back up to his room after dinner. The sky had become a rosy hue. The light that streamed in from the window let particles of dust be seen dancing in the evening air.

His ears flattened against his head. No one would help him, he thought. Maybe it was better to give up and see the person he adored again…

His instinct for survival kicked in. 'Get a hold of yourself,' it said. 'Do whatever it takes to survive. Anything.' A smile crept over Pikachu's face as he drifted off to sleep.

***

The next day, Pikachu came out of his room with a plan in mind. He laughed silently at the fools who will take his place.

He walked down to breakfast and sat down to nibble on some honey pancakes. No one else was at the table; he started to wonder, 'Where are they?' As soon as that thought entered his head, Fox came down, yawning and smacking his lips.

"Oh," Fox said as he noticed the Pokémon at the table. "Good morning, Pikachu!"

Pikachu was taken aback. Why did he sound so cheerful? Why was he being nice to him?

"Er, good morning."

A few more of the fighters started coming down. They too also greeted the mouse. Pretty soon, however, Pikachu suspected a conspiracy; they were all too nice, and Falco's greeting sounded a bit strained.

Pikachu thought, 'That's the way you bastards wanna play, huh? Well, two can play at that game.'

He responded politely to them all afterwards. And yet, not once did they show any sign of shock. Perhaps they really did think he changed for the better. 'Those fools don't know anything at all,' he smiled.

At four in the afternoon, Pikachu decided it was time to put his plan into action. He set his eye on Lucario, meditating in the training room.

"Ah, Pikachu," Lucario spoke, not opening his eyes. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, nothing," he grinned. "I just wanted to talk a bit."

"Talk? About what?" Lucario's eyes opened a little, suspecting something was amiss.

"You know, the whole death thing, and well, me!"

"I don't think there's much to talk about." Lucario got up and started to leave.

"Wait, wait!" And Pikachu left, following Lucario.

Pikachu trailed Lucario deep into the forest, where the trees blocked out the sun, letting only a few rays pierce through.

"Look," Lucario broke the silence. "I don't think anyone really wants to talk to you."

"But they were being very nice to me!"

"And you don't find that strange?" Lucario raised his eyebrows.

"Well, uh, a bit?" said Pikachu sheepishly.

"I'm glad to know that you understand. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to be alone for a while." Lucario began to walk deeper into the forest.

"But…" Pikachu's face then turned into one of malice. Looks like he could make some adjustments to his plan, and Lucario could just be the one to take the brunt of it. Making sure that Lucario was in a clearing where he won't be moving anytime soon due to meditating, Pikachu snuck into the garden and took a few seeds.

Hoping that Lucario wouldn't notice, Pikachu slowly laid the seeds into the earth, waiting for them to sprout. Something was missing though; Pikachu then had an idea that was going well but—

"Why are you urinating on the ground? If you really must go, you could have gone back to the mansion's bathroom."

Lucario had one eye open on Pikachu. Pikachu stammered, "Well, uh, I couldn't hold it in?"

Lucario paused for a moment and studied Pikachu. He knew that the rodent was lying, though there was nothing he could do.

Suddenly, there was a rumble from the ground. Out erupted mobile stems with a giant flower attached to them. The flowers weren't exactly flowers themselves, but red and white monstrosities with lips which contained one of the sharpest fangs you'd find on a carnivorous plant. Yep, six Piranha Plants started snapping at the two.

Pikachu was a little disconcerted but secretly laughed. 'Well, that wasn't what I was looking for, but I think it's got the same effect. When I save Lucario, everyone will remember me in honour!'

'This is stupid,' another voice resounded in his head. 'You could get killed!'

Pikachu paid no heed to the second voice. "Lucario, look out!" he cried, as a Piranha Plant lunged towards Lucario. Lucario stepped out of the way and delivered a punch to its head, causing it to leak a sticky yellowish liquid. It went into a spasm and moved no more.

Pikachu took out took out three of them with his Thunder, frying them into a nice crisp, and Skull Bashed one of the remaining two. The last Piranha Plant turned its attention towards Lucario, and threw itself at him. Pikachu, seizing this chance, charged for a fully-powered Skull Bash. He released all of his pent-up energy and rocketed at the plant. Lucario himself had just thrown a right hook punch at the head, causing it to open its jaws in pain.

The force of the punch also caused the Piranha Plant to propel its head 180 degrees.

Exactly where Pikachu was. With the combined velocity of the Skull Bash as well as the rotation of the plant's head, what happened next decorated the area with blood.

The fangs of the Piranha dug into Pikachu's neck and went straight through, literally ripping Pikachu's head off in the process. The headless body charged straight into the plant's head, ripping it off the ground, severing its link to its life source. As it gasped for air (imagine that), it turned a pale purple colour and wilted.

Lucario scanned the scenery now adorned with a magnificent crimson. "The fool," he spoke softly. He went back up to the mansion to tell the others of Pikachu's backfired treachery and his Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

* * *

**Well, there's another chapter done!**

**For those of you who don't know what Munchausen Syndrome is, it's basically inflicting pain or lying that you're in pain to get attention and care. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is where one inflicts pain on another to get some sort of benefit in return.  
**


	13. Crystalline Images

**I finally got off my lazy butt to make this chapter for you guys. Thanks to winter break, chapters will be coming out faster than usual.**

**

* * *

**_Fox yawned through the trailers. Was it going to be this boring? He glanced over at Krystal, who seemed to be staring intently at the screen. Shrugging his shoulders, he did his best to look at the sappy trailers for next year's romance movies._

_--  
_

"Pikachu did what?!"

"I sensed his aura," Lucario said. "He clearly wanted to try something mischievous, only for him to get killed by his own foolery."

"I knew something was wrong about that mouse," Samus growled. "I wonder where the Piranha Plant seeds came from, though. We never used them, and I've definitely never heard of any future plans of implementing Piranha Plants on any stage!"

"I heard something about Bowser illegally importing them or something like that," said Marth.

"In any case, the rest of the seeds have been taken care of," said Meta Knight. "The problem now is who's next." He took a glance at Fox, urging him to tell everyone.

"Uh, it's…" his eyes started flitting back and forth at the Ice Climbers. As realization dawned upon them, Popo and Nana started bawling, "Wah! Wah! We're too young to die!"

"Don't worry." Fox consoled the both of them. "Everything's going to be alright. We're all going to protect you, ok?"

The Ice Climbers sniffled and went to the other children for group therapy. Everyone broke out into conversation, and went their separate ways.

"Fox, do you have a moment?" He turned around and saw Peach beckoning him.

"Sure. What's up?"

"I've got something to show you," she said. "At first I thought they were coincidences, but now they're just getting really scary."

"Uh, what is it?"

"Come up to my room."

As the door opened, Fox thought he went blind.

The walls were painted bright pink, a perfect contrast of Ganondorf's dark, gloomy room. In the corner was a little doll-mansion with all the fighters' figurines. "Where did you get this?" Fox asked, examining the house.

"Oh, I have friends," she replied. Looking up, he saw a cabinet adorned with a mirror. On it were little bottles of perfume. Fox inched away from them: he never really understood why girls would put that horrid stuff on in the first place.

But what amazed him was…

"I never knew you lived in such a clutter, Peach," Fox remarked. The floor was covered in pieces of paper, stuffed animals, and—

"Ok, ok, I get the point," said Peach. "Now where is it…" she searched through the piles of garbage and pulled out a few small objects. "Ah-ha!" she exclaimed. "Take a look at this!" Fox was then force-thrusted a wad of pictures.

"Uh, what are these?" he asked.

"They're pictures of us, silly," Peach giggled. He flipped through them. She was right. However, all of them had been taken before the flight. Before Fox started freaking out in the first place.

"What does this have to do anything?"

Peach put on her serious look. "Look at the pictures closely, Fox. What do you see?"

He examined one of them and gasped. "But, this is…"

***

"We should seriously schedule these," Ganondorf muttered. "I know we're all going to die horrible, gruesome deaths, but we still want to enjoy our last few moments of life, ok?" They were all seated around a round table, many with looks of apprehension in their eyes.

"Now, now, Ganondorf," said Pit. "Let's all hear what Fox has to say."

"Thanks, Pit. Anyways, Peach showed me something very interesting." He slid the photos across the table. Snaked poked his head in closer for a look.

"These are, uh, photos of us. What do they have to do with anything?"

"I want you guys to look at the one with Jigglypuff in it closely." They all turned and focused on it.

The pink ball was waving merrily at the camera. She seemed a bit _flat_, though. Behind her, a familiar shell with long spikes was standing upright. In fact, it looked like the shell was crushing her against the camera.

"Ok, that's really creepy," said Ike.

"That's not even the half of it," said Fox. "Look at this next one."

It was a picture of Olimar, who didn't notice the camera. Behind him was a window with a slender crack running along it, coinciding with his helmet. "It seems as if his helmet had the crack," Zelda remarked.

"Wait, so are you saying these photos have a clue to how our deaths are going to be orchestrated?" asked Meta Knight.

"More or less."

They looked at the third one.

"Holy mother of Mei Ling!" Everyone raised their eyebrows at Snake. "Er, I mean, what the hell is that?!" The photo in question could barely be made out. A dark-green haze obscured a silhouette.

"I believe it was a picture of Wario," Peach said, wrinkling her nose.

"Wait," said Marth. "Is there a picture of Bowser?"

"Unfortunately, I couldn't manage to take a picture of everyone," Peach admitted. "Another problem is that I can't find the rest of the photos."

There was silence throughout the room. Then Ike stood up and shouted, "Then let's find the missing photos!"

"As obvious as that was, I'll have to agree with Ike," said Link. There was a general murmur of consent.

"You two should stay here," Fox warned the Ice Climbers. "Nothing will happen to you if there's nothing dangerous in the first place, right?" the two of them nodded.

The search for the missing photos was a failure. Although Peach insisted that they were in her room, they couldn't find any of them in there after a perfect scour of the room. Falco made a suggestion that they might be in the mansion elsewhere, but they still couldn't be found even then.

"What are we going to do, then?" asked Lucas.

"We can't do anything but keep an eye out for any attempts on our lives," said Meta Knight.

During this time, the ice siblings were huddled in fear in the meeting room.

"P-P-Popo, what's gonna happen to us? Do you think we're really gonna die?" As young as they were, they remembered how they never saw their parents again after that big avalanche. All the grown-ups told them that they were dead.

-/-

_After that dreadful incident, they held back their tears and continued ice climbing in the name of their parents. They were trekking up the fifth mountain in search of a carrot, but when they got up the top, there was a strange orb of pulsing energy. As they touched it, a blinding light filled their eyes. When it dimmed, they found themselves floating in mid-air. All was dark around them. The tears they've held back for so long started leaking out of their eyes, out of grief, out of isolation._

_After what seemed to be hours, a white object was seen in the distance, and it was slowing drawing closer to them. It was a giant glove with wriggling fingers._

"_Do not be afraid," it told them. "My name is Master Hand, and you are in the space between dimensions. I wasn't expecting you so early." The kids looked at each with confused looks. "You see," Master Hand continued. "I had originally planned to invite you to a tournament where you can fight people from different places."_

"_But all we know is how to climb mountains," said Nana._

"_I'm sure your hammers will come into use. But this choice is completely yours to make. If you don't want to join, I can send you back to the summit."_

_Silence fell upon them. Popo could tell Nana was thinking the same thing: what was there to go back to? Their parents are gone now, and the only thing they could do was spend the rest of their lives climbing mountains in hopes of finding food at the risk of losing their lives by the local wildlife._

"_We'll go," said Popo. The hand stayed still for a moment and then snapped its fingers. A brilliant whirl of colours passed by them, and as they slowed down, a giant building came into place._

"_Welcome to Smash Mansion." Master Hand opened the doors and let them in. "Here you'll meet a load of different people, and you'll even make some new friends. You can find me on the top floor if you have any problems." He floated through the ceiling, leaving the twins confused on the foyer._

_The first person they came across was a blonde woman in a bright pink dress. "Oh, hello," she said. "My name is Princess Peach. Are you new fighters?"_

_Popo blushed. "Uh, I guess you could say that."_

"_Well, welcome anyways! I'll tell you the truth. I'm new here too."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yep. See that mouse over there?"_

"_Is it a mascot?"_

"_No, silly. He's a fighter."_

"_Are you serious? No way! I could take that thing down with—"_

_At this point, a fox walking on two legs stepped on the rodent's tail, causing it to conduct an electric current, frying the anthropomorphic fox to a crisp. Nana giggled._

"_Oh, newcomers, Peach?" the fox asked._

"_Yes, Fox."_

_They were soon introduced to the other fighters, who either greeted them cheerfully or (in the case of Bowser and Ganondorf) let out a grunt._

_Over the course of the tournament, the boisterous Popo and shy Nana started to grow on the others. In fact, they became a "tight-knit family." Both brother and sister hadn't known such happiness in such a long time._

-/-

They kept waiting in the meeting room. Nana's stomach let out a low gurgle.

"Popo, I'm hungry."

"I am too, but we gotta stay put."

"I can't stand it anymore!" she cried.

"Ok, ok, we'll go down to the kitchen and get some food, ok?" They left the safety of the meeting room, and made their way down to the kitchen. Entering the doors, they found the chefs busy cooking away for dinner.

"You can't come in yet," the head chef told them. "Dinner's in three hours."

"But we're hungry now!" screamed Popo. "Even a carrot will do!"

The chef just looked at them. "Fine. We've got a few vegetables laid out over there." He pointed towards the counter behind them, laden with corn, eggplants, and other veggies. In the middle was a steaming pot. "You can take some, but don't take too much. That stew still needs seasoning. If you'll excuse me, all of us are going to be out taking a break, so don't make a mess in here!"

Thanking the chef, the two rushed over to the counter, and found the veggies too big to fit in their mouths. "Hey Popo, do you think you could get that knife behind the stew?" asked Nana.

"Think so." Using his hammer, he slowly nudged the knife out of its block and heard a clatter on the table. "Yes!" he shouted.

What a terrible mistake that was.

The mallet was still behind the pot, and as he yanked it back, the stew came tumbling over, spilling the contents onto the boy. Popo started screaming from the pain, while Nana cried out for help, but no one came; the chefs were gone and out of earshot.

Nana tried using her blizzard breath on her brother, but the burns were way too severe. She was shaking her brother hard, when she noticed something: a glint on top of her.

With her constant shaking and banging the counter, the knife inched towards the edge. It glared evilly at Nana before plummeting down towards her skull. She let out a shriek and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Something pushed her out of the way. When she opened her eyes, a bloodstained tea-coloured paw with a knife embedded in it hovered above Popo. Looking up at their saviour, she saw that it was Fox, gritting his teeth from the pain.

"Mr. McCloud!" whimpered Nana. "Are you OK—"

"Not now, Nana! Could someone lend me a hand here?" A pair of boots came into view as Link bent down and carried Popo away. Fox turned back towards Nana.

"Mr. McCloud, I—"

"I thought I told you to stay in the meeting room!" yelled Fox. Nana shrunk back in terror. Fox's face was contorted in rage. She had never seen Fox so angry before. "You could've been killed!" Flecks of saliva came flying out of his mouth. Nana felt something well up from behind her eyes.

'Don't let them come out,' Nana thought. 'I told myself I wouldn't cry after Mom and Dad died.' Her mental restraints were no use. Tears leaked out non-stop. Her voice began to quiver. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"I'm s-s-sorry, Mr. McCloud!" she sobbed. Fox was still furious, but his expression softened. Finally, he closed his eyes and took long, deep breaths.

"Nana, do you know how worried we were when we couldn't find you in the meeting room?" he asked. She shook her head. "When we heard you screaming, we thought something worse happened." Fox broke out into a gentle smile. "I just want you to know how much we love you." Nana sniffled and ran into Fox's one-armed hug. She recalled the words Peach spoke after Nana told her what happened in her world.

"_It's OK. You'll have good times, you'll have bad times. But no matter what it is, we'll always be here. We'll always be family."_

_

* * *

_**This is probably my longest (if not, second-longest) chapter. I've tried adding some backstory and a bit of heartwrenching content into this one. Leave a review and tell me if you like it!**


	14. A Deadly Sin

**Another chapter. Inactivity's a pain in the neck.**

* * *

_The movie was finally starting. Fox decided to sit back and accept the inevitable. If he was lucky enough, he'd be out cold and she'd be none the wiser. His eyes began to droop when he felt a sudden jab in his side. Krystal had leaned on him, and in the process, stuck her elbow into his ribs._

_So much for that._

----

"How's Popo doing?" asked Fox. His paw had been bandaged and blood stopped trickling out of his wound.

"He's doing fine," said Peach. Looking back, she continued, "I don't think he should get out of bed anytime, though. Those are some pretty severe third-degree burns."

"What about Nana?"

"I think she's in her room, sleeping."

"Thanks." Fox left the infirmary and walked up to the Ice Climbers' room. There she was, out of her parka, sleeping peacefully on her bed. He sat down and took a closer look at her. He could see the tear-ridden streaks across her face and the lingering smell of salt. He rose and left; he knew at this time even he would want to be left alone.

"She's doing fine," Fox told Peach as he returned. "She looks a little shook up, but she seems to be fine."

"That's good to hear." She turned and left. "I need to go up to my room. I need to take a rest." And she was gone. Fox took a glance towards Popo, wrapped in bandages. He sighed and went out the door. He thought, 'What should I do now?' As he was thinking, he turned the corner and saw Meta Knight looking out towards something in the distance..

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"I'm staring out a window."

"I can see that, but why?"

"Because I'm thinking. In fact, you should think about it yourself."

"It's hard to when you're being all mysterious."

Meta Knight turned towards Fox. "I'm talking about what happens when we die."

"But we won't die," said Fox. "We can beat death, I know it!"

"We can't beat death," said Meta Knight. "Everything eventually dies. We can only keep it at bay for now, but it is, in truth, an undeniable fact."

"So are you saying it's pointless to avoid it? We should just let ourselves die?"

"I'm not saying that. I know that any living being would try and struggle for life, no matter how bleak that chance is. I, too, would like to see through to the end."

Fox whistled. "Wow, you sound like Mewtwo. All-knowing and mysterious."

"I probably would, seeing as I've met him a couple of times." Meta Knight turned away from Fox and began to walk down the corridor. As he was about to round the corner, he addressed Fox. "If you'll excuse me, I have several matters to attend to." Fox stared at the spot where Meta Knight vanished.

"Several matters..."

***

That evening was one of the quieter ones. Peach was still looking over Popo. She went over to the medicinal cabinet and took out a Heart Container. Heart Containers out of battle were dangerous to administer. The healing energy within the container is lessened by the stage's boundaries. Without those restrictions, the body has a chance of rejecting the force and inevitably self-destructs. Peach carefully put it into both of Popo's hands; Heart Containers were activated by holding it in both hands and raising it above the user's head. With Popo out cold, Peach slowly raised both of his burnt arms up into the air. The motes of magic leaked out from the tip of the heart and onto Popo's chest. The burns marks receded a bit. The Eskimo child gave a weak moan. The princes of Mushroom Kingdom let out a sigh of relief.

From behind her, the door gave a little creak. The two eyes focused on Peach, who didn't seem to realize. They retreated from the door and the door closed with a tiny click.

--

Lucario was busy meditating in the cool air of evening, not paying attention to even the birds above were flying back into the forest. At least, he wasn't until a shrill cry filled the air. Glancing up, he saw two crows still circling in the orange-purple sky. He frowned; with all the strange signs that have popped up from everywhere, his knowledge of old human superstitions came running into play. He got up and walked towards the front doors of the mansion, never once breaking eye contact with the crows. Deep down, it frightened him.

Those beady black eyes.

--

The King of Evil and the Captain of Palutena's Army were in the same room without acknowledging each other's existence: one was sitting in a chair, reading an ancient book written in a language that only few could comprehend; the other was on his knees, praying for guidance from the Holy Goddess herself.

A voice spoke in Pit's mind. "Pit, what is it that you are in need of me?"

"I'm asking for your opinion on death."

"What of it?"

"Palutena, can angels die?"

There was an awkward pause before she responded. "If you are talking in human terms, yes, angels can 'die.'"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"If an angel ever 'dies,' then they fade away. However, their spirit remains in the world, and becomes one with the elements."

Pit wasn't sure how to react to this news. All he could say was, "Thank you, Palutena."

"It's all right, Pit, what you can do is--"

But what he could do, he didn't find out, for an odd humming noise started taking over. Breaking his connection off with Palutena, he looked over and saw the air around Ganondorf turn a dim purple. Judging from his annoyed expression, Pit had been talking out loud again and Ganondorf had set up a barrier to block out the noise. The angel walked towards Ganondorf, but he never seemed to reach him. 'Must be the barrier,' he thought. He tried mimicking the desire to talk to Ganondorf with his hands, but whether or not the King of Evil noticed or not, he didn't bother acknowledging and kept reading. Pit gave up and walked away. Feeling a bit weary, Ganondorf bookmarked the page he was on and put his cryptic book away on the shelf, silently thinking of putting his plan into action.

***

Falco's stomach gave a little gurgle. "Man, when's dinner?" he said to himself. It was 6 already, and none of the fighters were called to dinner yet. Always the impatient one, Falco barged into the kitchen and began accosting one of the chefs. "Hey, where's the food?" he demanded.

"Well, sir, we would've announced that dinner is served, if it weren't for the fact that the young master cleaned us out and we're busily making more food."

"The young master?"

"Why, yes, he's over there right now." The chef pointed over at the sous-chef's table. There, Kirby, the adorable pink blob, was busy wolfing down on everything that was in sight.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Falco walked over to Kirby, who had just swallowed three strawberry tarts in one go. "Kirby, we have to talk." Kirby turned to Falco and let out an enthusiastic "HIIII!"

"Yeah, yeah, hi to you too," said Falco coldly. "But I need to ask a favour of you. Could you not eat everything before dinner? That's probably why whenever we have a match after dinner, it's boring and everyone's tired. Kirby stared at him.

"Poyo." And he resumed eating. Falco shook his head and left to tell anyone he ran into that they better peruse their secret caches tonight. Again.

***

At 2 in the morning, all was still. Or was it? A small figure ran across the hallway of shadows and pale-blue moonlight. It moved stealthily down the bedrooms, and dashed down the stairs with little noise. Opening the door to the grand hall, the figure moved towards the kitchen.

THUNK!

"Poyo!"

Yes, it was Kirby, making another late-night trip to the kitchen. This time, however, he was foiled by what seemed to be a needle. He paused. No one else was here and Kirby was sure Zelda was still asleep up in her room. The needle, however, was unmistakeably hers; Kirby took it as a sign that

Zelda (or Sheik) had prided herself in protecting the kitchen from a certain intruder. As the shock passed, the small Star Warrior decided to proceed with caution. Sure enough, there were a few more traps in the kitchen, none of them edible.

Avoiding all of them, Kirby found the jackpot: the newly installed refrigerator. After the freezer incident, the chefs thought it'd be safer to use a refrigerator, possibly 2 stories tall, to store goods in without the possibility of being locked in. Kirby started drooling at the sight of the chicken, the puree, the cake...

Kirby opened the door, and with his almighty breath, the pink blob opened wide and started inhaling. Food left the shelves and went straight into his mouth. His insatiable appetite remained, but the smorgasbord of flavours enriched his tongue and pleased him.

That is, until Kirby heard a creak.

Kirby hastily shut the door. Was it a chef making the night patrol? When no one came, Kirby let out a sigh of relief and turned back towards the giant refrigerator, only to see it balance dangerously on a corner for an instant as it came crashing down on him...

* * *

**Sorry for the late update; ADS took quite a bit of a toll on me and I've been busy pretty lately. Well, hope you guys enjoyed this.**


	15. Physics Applied to Hatred

**Here be my 15****th**** chapter. I hope all you guys enjoy it.

* * *

**

_"Oh, Richard, take me with you!" the tigress on the screen pleaded. The leopard, in his heavy dark trenchcoat turned away from her. The distant toot of an incoming train sounded in the distance._

_"Gabrielle, are you really sure about this?" Richard asked. His eyes were empty of life._

_"As ready as I'll ever be." She then drew him into a passionate embrace as old romantic music began to play._

_"Isn't this romantic?" whispered Krystal. Fox forced a smile._

_"Um, yes, it sure is," he whispered back. He really never was for romance films. But maybe, just maybe, he should pay attention to this. It seemed like a good way to introduce him to the world of love, and years of fighting in an Arwing didn't exactly provide him with all the experience of a casanova. He wished he paid more attention to the dinner scene, no matter how much he wanted to vomit._

"_Hey," Fox said to Krystal, "when does this movie end?"_

_"Not for a while. Why?" Her tone became accusatory._

_"Nothing, it's nothing," he sighed. Just watch it and try to enjoy it. It's going to be all over soon._

--

Fox awoke with a jolt. "It was... just a dream?" He heard in some distant corner of his mind a crash which came down like thunder. The moon was still out and the stars shone brightly. Everything was still outside. There was complete silence. There was nothing to worry about, right? He tried to get back to sleep, but no matter how much he twisted and turned, it was useless. He was deadbeat-tired. 'I really need to sleep. What was it that Yoshi always mentioned about a good night's sleep? It was something about food...'

He sneaked out of his room and down the stairs. The stairs were always awfully creaky. He expected that someone would always catch him on one of these late-night trips. No one ever seemed to catch anyone. Must be a plot hole. As he was about to walk into the kitchen, he noticed a cup of eggnog sitting on the counter.

"Maybe it was this." Fox downed the entire thing in one gulp. Already the drink was taking effect on him. His brain started to shut down. 'Must... get... back... to room... before...' As he was halfway up the stairs, sleep took over and he fell unconscious on the steps. No one heard the thump that resounded on the wooden planks.

--

The next thing that Fox remembered were a series of crashes and a throbbing headache.

"Fox, are you alright?" Fox opened his eyes. Ness was standing over him with concern.

"Wha-- what happened?"

"I came down to get some early grub, when I almost tripped over you, y'know?"

"Oh." Fox steadied himself and was about to walk up the stairs when he still felt Ness' eyes on him. "What?"

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened?"

"Am I supposed to?"

Ness scratched his head. "No. I'm just curious."

"It's really stupid. You know, falling asleep on the stairs after a cup of eggnog."

"Oh, really? Okay, then." Ness watched as Fox continued walking up the stairs, rubbing his head. He shrugged it off and went out the front door. Dew was still on every blade of grass and a faint mist floated off the ground. Ness took his bat out and took a few swings. He was hoping that when he returned to Onett, he would arrive just in time for the annual baseball tournament. Last time his team ended up in fourth place. As star of his team, Ness had to brush up on his batting skills; the Smash tournament got his baseball skills rusty.

He took one swing. The air swirled around his wooden bat. It felt different. He took another swing. It, too, was different. He looked at his hands. They were shaking uncontrollably. Something cold gripped onto him, but when he tried to brush it off, it was then he realized that it was deep within his mind.

It was an emotion, he knew, but as to which one he could not put a finger on. The cold shifted to his stomach before travelling up to his heart. It numbed him, but it soon passed. It stirred up an old memory, one that he had a long time ago. He chipped away at it with the swish of his bat distracting him.

--

"The cooks sure are taking a long time today, aren't they," Samus said to Peach in passing.

"I have to agree with you. It usually takes how long? 15 minutes, I believe?"

"All I know is that the food comes at around 9:15."

"Where's my food?!" Falco was in a very bad mood. Patience was definitely not one of his virtues. He banged on the table twice before storming off in rage. A few others left as well, including Mario and Luigi, who decided to fix a little something for themselves in the kitchen.

"Who wants to bet that Kirby ate everything again?" asked Meta Knight. Everyone grumbled in agreement. That puffball was going to get it one day.

"Mamma mia!" Everyone straightened at the sound of Mario's cry. It was followed shortly thereafter with Luigi's incoherent babbling. Their curiosity getting the better of them, they found what had been the source of the cooks' delay.

The great refrigerator that the kitchen staff had ordered had toppled over, and seeping from underneath it was--

"B-b-b-b-blood!" Luigi fainted on the spot. The red viscous substance was slowly creeping out from underneath the monolith. Even though the corpse was out of sight, everyone knew that it was Kirby. The hum of the fridge continued to bore into their ears.

"Shouldn't we try to at least remove the body?" asked Zelda. The others nodded, but they had no idea as to how they could lift the fridge. Even with their combined strength, the ice box didn't budge an inch. "Well, I guess maybe psychics should do this." Ness began concentrating his energy at the apex of the refrigerator. He was soon followed by Lucas, Lucario, then Zelda (who still denies that her magic is actually psychic abilities). Slowly, but surely, the fridge began to rise.

It was here that they realized that they have never ever studied Kirby's anatomy. The fridge was barely ten centimeters off the ground when they realized that there was an odd whirring noise that did not come from the fridge. In the middle, where the corpse should have been, was a hole that was rapidly sucking in everything within its vicinity. The surrounding blood and gore was sucked in the moment it was exposed. Everyone held onto something stationary and fixed into the ground.

"Luigi!" Mario cried. Luigi, lying face down on the floor, slid across the floor into the endless void. Mario took hold of Luigi, but he too was being sucked in.

"Here!" cried Link as he launched his clawshot which wound itself around Mario's free arm. Samus then grabbed onto Link, and in turn was being held in place by Lucas' Rope Snake. The rescue was going to be a success.

...

until Luigi woke up. "Mario, what's-a going on?" He then noticed something pulling him.

"Luigi! Don't look-a back!" He did, and started freaking out. "Mariooooooooo!" His thrashing around made it harder for his brother to cling tight onto his hand. Finally, their grip slipped. Mario and Luigi's eyes met. They sent messages of loss, fear, and sadness. Nonetheless, Mario felt uneasy as he watched Luigi disappear into the void.

_Super Mario Bros. Game Over Theme_

"Luigiiiiiiii!" The psychics, unable to resist the mental strain any longer, stopped utilizing their abilities, sending the fridge crashing back down with tremendous force. The vaccum instantly ceased. Everyone warily let go. Silence and tension reigned in the air. Another one of them has been lost. They all stood there, shocked and unable to move.

--

Everyone stood around Luigi's gravestone. The grave was naturally empty, as the body was never recovered. As Master Hand delivered his eulogy, Mario looked past the headstone, past the trees, into the pristine clear water of the lake.

"Mario, I'm really sorry for your loss." Mario didn't answer. Fox tried putting a hand onto his shoulder, but he didn't respond to that either. Fox gave up and decided to talk to Peach, who, just like Mario, took Luigi's death pretty hard; tears streamed down her face and reacted to Fox's consoling.

"No one really noticed him," she choked in between her tears. "He was always pushed aside by others in turn for Mario. Even so, he was very polite."

"I never really knew the poor guy." He unconsciously rubbed the back of his head. He never knew why he did that. It's been a habit that plagued him ever since childhood. Whenever nervousness got him, that good old habit never failed to die on him.

"Well, you're not the first," sighed Peach. "Like I said, no one really noticed him." The silence grew uneasy. Fox wasn't sure what to do next. So he did the one thing he could think of: leave.

There was just one other thing that Fox couldn't help having. His curiosity commonly got the better of him, as demonstrated once in the den. Fox had once seen Snake sneak a few boxes into his room. It struck him as odd, as Snake already had a lot of boxes stored there, so he decided to go and take a peak. What he found sickened him.

Even so, that didn't stop him from entering Luigi's room. His overwhelming curiosity overcame his sense of morals--in this case, walking into a dead man's room--and could not wait to learn more about the less-known brother of Mario. Fox browsed the room; it looked normal, just like his, but Fox couldn't help but feel that the room was... what's a good word? Dark. Yes, the room felt dark. Exactly how he could not put his finger on it.

The shelves were meticulously ordered by category. One shelf had novels alphabetically sorted by author, another had match histories chronologically sorted, and another had photo albums of everyone. Fox wondered how Luigi managed to lose a fair amount of matches even with the amount of work he had used on the logs. Notes completely filled in all the margins. Each action was typed out, verbatim, via Master Hand's commentary, who never missed a punch or a bomb. There were even a few photos of some of the high points in the match. How Luigi managed to even get these logs was a mystery, but he didn't seem to care much about putting them in plain view.

He put the log in his hands back onto the shelf. He then turned his attention to the novels. Funnily enough, only one of them was under was Fox would classify as the action genre. The others were either horror-suspense or psychological thrillers. Fox never really did know everyone's personal tastes, the least of them Luigi, but as much as he wanted to say "It's just what Luigi likes to read," the room was spick-and-span. Even the cleanest of the rooms he had seen--guys only, of course--was Meta Knight or Lucario's, but then again, their's were mysterious. Luigi's room was just Falco's room, albeit the bed was made, and there was not a speck of dust on the floor. It made Fox feel a little uneasy. This room was just _too_ clean.

Luigi's wardrobe choice was just like his, Fox noted. The majority of the closet was the battle gear that he wore to brawls, while there were a few street clothes that seemed untouched, thanks to the thin layer of dust settling on them. Fox closed the closet. The afternoon sun was high in the sky. The heat radiating off of it made Fox a little drowsy. 'A little nap couldn't hurt,' he told himself. He plopped onto the bed and rested his head against the pillow on the left-hand side of the bed. There was something hard in the pillowcase. He took the pillow out and discovered a light seam in the centre of the headrest. He dug his fingers into it and found a little black book. He opened the cover.

The pages had yellowed and the writing was scrawled very precisely. The only times Fox had seen this type of writing were in formal invitations to parties, half of which he deftly refused. Reading it more carefully, he found that each piece of writing was a journal entry.

_July 4th, 5th Year of Princess Peach's Reign:_

_It's been a week after Melee. Mario and I are back in Mushroom Kingdom. Peach went straight back to her castle. No doubt Toadsworth was worried about her, a princess who actually went to compete in a tournament. He must have scared out of his wits! Ha, that silly old codger!_

Silly old codger? Fox highly doubted that he had ever heard Luigi say anything like that. He flipped a couple of pages.

_October 2nd, 5th Year of Princess Peach's Reign:_

_I got some mail today. Mario was off saving Peach. AGAIN. Seriously, why is it he gets to have all the fame and glory, while I'm pretty much stuck at home, doing nothing but house chores? This sickens me._

_Oh, anyways, about the mail._

_It was an invitation to another tournament. Seriously, don't those Hands have anything better to do? We've only just been here for three months. I swear, I am going to go insane if this keeps up._

He flipped through a few more pages, his discomfort growing.

_November 23rd, I have no idea:_

_We went on the Halberd today for a vacation on Delfino Isle. At least, we would have if Fox McCloud never stopped us from actually taking off. At first, I was annoyed. I was looking forward to a nice time on the beach, but that stupid walking Fox taking that away from me? Why, I'd--_

_Calm down, Luigi, calm down. I guess I'd have to thank him since we didn't get on. The whole damn ship blew up in mid-air. I really hope Meta Knight had insurance for that thing._

Luigi had contempt for him? This really was dark writing. He wanted to stop reading, but the pure malice written on its pages was too much for him.

_December 18th, They need a year or something:_

_Well, the new tournament starts today! Me, I'm glad it finally started. I've had enough of this "no fighting in the halls." I just wanna bash someone's head in._

_Anyways, the first match turned out to be between Bowser and Jigglypuff. Crazy must have been the one who picked that, because only a fool on crack would be stupid enough to pick those two. Today was just amazing. I watched Bowser crush that whatever-the-hell Pokemon and watched her feeble eyes wide open with horror. Everyone had those looks of shock on their faces. I played along. It was amusing watching them turn on Fox, who just left because he couldn't stand the cheering. You know, he might even be like me--unable to stand those cheers of joy and excitement._

_Anywho, we all charged straight into the control room. All the accusatory remarks were simply wonderful. It was a shame that Peach stood in for him. She was being sweet again. Actually, on second thought, I don't want to save her anymore. Mario can have her._

_I was hoping there would have been more drama._

Anger sparked in Fox. These words dared mock everyone? Why, if he found this while Luigi was alive, Luigi would have suffered an immense beating. He turned the page.

_November 26, Screw this:_

_Today everyone gathered and started recountng tales. They were funny tales. Ike, for one, started telling us about how most of his squadron was wiped out from a careless fire. Mario? He told everyone about that one incident where we rescued Princess Peach only to result in the deaths of many Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and other cronies, but it wasn't like they actually mattered._

_Well, we watched Wario and Bowser die today. Turns out Olimar went missing, and the greenhouse that held him exploded. It was a shame, I guess. Fox then wrote out a list in which people were going to die, though it wasn't like it really helped or anything._

He flipped through a few more pages. It documented every single death and Popo and Nana's close shave. He soon reached the last entry in the book.

_November 28th:_

_It looks as if everyone's paranoid now. I've seen the fear on their faces. I've seen enough. I believe it is time to do something of my own. I've planned something interesting right after breakfast for Mario--_

"Fox! What on earth are you doing?"

Fox looked around sharply. Peach stood in the doorway, indignant. "Fox, I'm disappointed in you! Everyone else had the decency to not salvage a dead man's room!"

"Peach, I--"

"I don't want to hear it! Just get out, please! And put that book back where you found it!"

"Peach, you have to read this." Fox put the book back on the bed, ears drooped. "It's for--"

"Go!" Fox left, not wanting to anger the princess any further.

Peach had rarely ever been angry. She herself was shocked when she yelled at Fox and almost immediately regretted saying all those things to Fox. She decided to heed his warning and read the black book now lying on the bed. When she read it, her eyes widened in horror.

--

Mario's room was right next to Luigi's. It was, by far, less tidy than his younger counterpart. It wasn't as if stuff was strewn out everywhere, but organization wasn't up to par with Luigi's. He listened to the birds outside, chirping away happily, unaware of what tragedy had transpired.

Whenever Mario was in trouble, Luigi was always there to back him up. Now those memories will stay memories forever. He sighed and went to his closet. There was a variety of clothing in here. He had a lot of other outfits in here aside from his standard plumber outfit. On the top were three spare hats. He took off the one he was currently wearing and reached for the middle one.

Suddenly, his door burst open. Fox stood by the doorway, panting, with Peach closely following him.

"Fox? Peach? What's going on?" Neither Fox or Peach have ever barged into his room. In fact, no one ever had. He began to put the hat on his head.

"Mario! Don't put it on!"

But it was too late. The inside of the hat had been coated with liquefied Poison Mushroom, which was highly corrosive when it came in contact with skin. The sizzling of skin filled the room like a steak put in oil. Peach screamed. Mario couldn't do anything; the poison had seeped into his brain and paralyzed his entire body (though it left his pain receptors working quite well). He couldn't speak as Fox tried to remove the cap, only to be burned by that same poison.

As Mario lay there, he thought back to this morning, when Luigi came into his room.

"Hey Luigi, what's-a up?"

"Oh, nothing-a Mario. Just wanted to see what I'd look like-a with your hat on."

"Go ahead!"

That must have been when the poison was slipped. Although Mario could not cry, he was crushed when he realized it was his brother who killed him.

His broken heart killed him before the poison did.

* * *

**Phew, that was a long chapter! Well, that's all for now! Thanks guys for all your reviews.**


	16. SwipSwapped Hearts

**Here's the sixteenth chapter. Sorry 'bout the long, long, long update. Anyways, I'd like to say thanks to all of you lovely readers for continuing to read this.**

**Disclaimer: see chapter 1. Or if it's tl;dr, I don't own any of the characters used here.

* * *

**  
_--Fin--_

_Finally, the movie was over. Fox stretched his arms. Krystal dragged Fox out of the theatre._

_"Now how about that," she said. "Didn't you like that movie?"_

_"Yeah, it was good." Fox hoped his lie would work. It did. Krystal just smiled and dragged him off to the concession stand._

_"Now where should we go? It's almost 8:00."_

_"We haven't had dinner yet. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?" Fox was hoping that she would say Tiff's Tuna, but..._

_"Let's go to Gordon's Grill!"  
_  
----

Everyone mourned the death of Mario Mario a day after his demise. The grave of Luigi was now abandoned. After everyone learned that it was Luigi who conspired to kill Mario, it stood there, an ornament jutting out of the earth, doing nothing but existing. They all gathered round the tombstone with their heads bowed in silence. The passing wind whispered its condolences and the trees rustled with grief.

"I can't believe it was Luigi," muttered Peach. She was probably the most shocked, as she was the one closest to him now.

"No one could," said Fox. He hoped that he could console her. "I mean, he seemed so... normal." Peach sighed. Fox felt down when she sighed: it was almost as if her soul was seeping through her body from betrayal. She wasn't in one of her consoling moods.

The party soon broke up after three hours, and returned to their daily activities, waiting for their inevitable demise to come. Popo was recovering, and was already back on his two feet. Zelda spent most of her free time out on the third floor balcony, feeling the wind pass in between her hair. No matter the case, no one was jolly.

Dinner was heavily subdued today. The only sounds in the dining room were the clinking of dinnerware; no one spoke a word. The turkey today tasted bland to Fox. He stared at the empty seat five places away to his right, at the end of the table. The absence of the red-hatted plumber brought down everyone's mood.

The plates were then taken away to be cleaned. Link, Marth, Wolf (sigh) and a few others went into the den to try playing cards. Fox was out of it, and didn't realize that he was supposed to be with the crowd until Falco reminded him. "We promised to go, remember?" Fox groaned. He remembered how just a few days ago Snake had decided that life in the mansion definitely could use an upturn, and proposed that they play cards to pass the time. As much as Fox knew some card games, he was hardly in the mood for playing.

Everyone sat around the table in the middle of the den. The lights overhead dimmed a little. Ike, Marth, and Link were definitely interested; from where they were from, cards were just about as existent as cars. "Alright, since you three have never played cards in your life, let's start with something easy." He turned to Falco. "Any suggestions?"

"Don't ask me. You can play Go Fish or whatever it was and I couldn't care less." Snake frowned, but took Falco's opinion to heart. As Snake was explaining the rules, Falco turned to Fox. "This really blows. I'd rather be outside in my Arwing, but what does Master Hand say? 'It's for your own good that you stay in here.' Who does he think I am? I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, I think you can. Then when you get horribly slaughtered I can have some chicken for dinner," said Wolf. Falco glared at him. How he would love to pull the trigger at that pompous smirking face.

"Falco, just cut it out." Fox was trying to focus on the game. Ike was pretty bad at it. Link had asked Marth if he had a 6, but the fact that Ike himself had a 6 in his hand didn't mean anything to him as he asked Link for a jack. His luck was crummy as well. His hand began to accumulate cards, none of them a matching pair.

"At the rate this game is going, we're never going to get to play some real card games," said Wolf. He got up and began to leave.

"You sure you don't want to stick around? We're gonna play blackjack next," said Snake. As fun as it was playing with newbies, he still wanted a match against a pro.

"If you ain't got poker, count me out."

"What's poker?" asked Link, watching Wolf leave. Snake ignored him and decided to start a game of blackjack after Marth had won ("I knew I would!") and Ike had still found the rules confusing ("I've got a pair of threes. What am I supposed to do?").

"I can't take this anymore," said Falco. At this rate, he'd be out cold after waiting for Ike to figure out how much an ace and a four add up to. "Wanna come along, Fox?"

"But--"

"Whatever. I'm going to die if this keeps up." Falco left to do what he did best these days: sleep. Fox stretched his muscles and walked to the door, offering a small "Sorry, Snake. Sometime later?" as he went through it. The foyer was completely devoid of being or sound. It was pure silence. Fox's boots clacked across the waxed linoleum floor as he walked up the stairs.

He entered his room and looked out the window. The afternoon sun reflected off the lake. A flock of robins took from the trees. Fox laid on his bed, feeling the plush fabric seemingly seep in between his tendons. The sun's rays made Fox's eyelids heavy, and soon enough, he was fast asleep.

If Fox had a dream, he didn't remember it. It felt like only a second passed and yet the sun was already halfway down. Fox sighed; he had only so many hours in which he could sleep and his body clock was going to be thrown out of whack. No matter, he thought. He got up and went back down to the first floor. The gigantic clock in the hall chimed six. It was dinnertime.

Food quality had went down by quite a lot. Since they couldn't lift the refrigerator for fear that they may unleash Kirby's endless stomach again, the small pantry was not enough to accommodate everyone's preferred frozen foods. Normally, everyone would get some sort of sweet delicacy after the main entree. After the refrigerator incident, the desserts were terrible.

"What the hell is this?!" said Falco. He had just finished taking a spoonful of bland tan-coloured yogurt. He pushed the plate away from him in disgust.

"It's the only dessert that hasn't spoiled yet. I-I-I'm sure that we will have something different next day," said the head chef. Falco was not happy.

Wolf stirred his yogurt. "Look, pigeon, just let it go."

Falco narrowed his eyes. "You stay out of it, mutt."

There was an eerie silence. "Oh, dear, I think we should let the after-dinner staff take our plates," said Peach, who was desperately trying to leave the table with a viable excuse. No one moved a muscle. The bird and the lupine were still too busy glaring at each other; the tension in the air was so thick, that you could--

OK, there was just a lot of tension.

"Let it go, people," said Snake. He lit up a cigar. "We don't need anymore bloodbaths, even though we're all gonna die," he added as Link was about to say something. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, I'm outta here." He got up and left the dining room. Marth and a few others hastily got up and hurried away, leaving a fair amount of fighters left at the table.

"I-I-I think we should go too," Lucas said to Ness. Ness nodded; he didn't even need to read minds to know what would probably happen next.

"So what should we do now?" asked Ness. "Pit's hogging the TV, Marth and Ike are god-knows-where, ad I'm dying of boredom." He tapped is fingers against a wall. "Lucas, I need a suggestion."

"Oh! Um, I don't know..." Lucas stared down at his feet. "I was thinking of training."

Ness raised an eyebrow. "Training?" Lucas nodded. "Well, as much as I hate training, we've got nothing else to do, so sure, why not?"

The training room was cluttered from lack of use. "Well, here's a good chance to use our powers, eh, Lucas?" Lucas nodded timidly. Using their minds, the two boys used psychokinesis to lift a few displaced items back to their respectful places, though not necessarily precise; Lucas kept using too much energy to move objects back, and even caused a home-run bat to smash against some racks. The ground was soon cleared of sandbags, home-run bats, beam swords, and an occasional Mr. Saturn.

"There we go," said Ness. The only thing that was left was a giant weight (250 pounds, mind you) left on the floor. With psychokinesis, the weight of the object in question determines the amount of energy used to move it. Lucas began to strain his psychic capabilities by lifting the heavy weight off the ground a few inches. Ness, however, helped him lift it up with ease. About thirty inches off the ground, however, Ness, too, began to feel the burden settling down on his brain.

"Just a little more," he groaned. The weight was almost back on the rack. Lucas was standing right next to it, watching Ness squeeze out whatever psychic energy he still had in him. As soon as he heard the click, he stopped focusing on it. Unfortunately, he missed by a few inches and it went down, missing Lucas' head by a mere five inches.

"Ness!" Lucas' face had blanched and his heart was beating five times as fast.

"Sorry 'bout that!" Ness felt awkward about the whole situation now. That was sure a close call. A bit off and Lucas would have turned into some yummy boy-paste. "Ok, so maybe that was a bad idea. At least no one got hurt, right?"

"Yeah, tell that to the boy who almost had a heart attack because a heavy piece of metal was about to conk him in the head," sneered Lucas. As nice as he usually was, he too had a breaking point like anyone else. Ness knew that he shouldn't mess with Lucas. Not now, anyways. He began to play with his yo-yo, and left the training room. Lucas didn't appreciate Ness leaving without a word. Yeah, he was brash sometimes, but that doesn't mean he got to treat Lucas like... never mind. Lucas knew of the old adage "Forgive and forget" and decided to put it into practice. He took another glance at the weight. No one's gonna die with that thing around, he thought.

--

Zelda was busy reading an ancient Hyrule tome. Written in a long-lost language, only the royal family of Hyrule knew it existed. What was written within these books has been a mystery, even for the royal family. No one usually perused these, but there has been hushed talk about these books and the dark secrets they contain. Zelda could see why now; the book she had "borrowed" had some pretty disturbing content, particularly around the subject of death, not to mention a do-it-yourself necromancy ritual. As much as she was disgusted by it, she hoped that this book will hold the answers to "defeating" their untimely adversary.

She thumbed through the pages. The yellowed pages crackled as they were flipped with unwanted force, almost being forced to rip. This was going nowhere, she thought. These were instructions to old, arcane practices that she hoped had long been discontinued. Page after page was useless. In fact, she didn't understand why she had instructed her advisors to send her this book from Hyrule. As she was about to close it, something caught her eye. At the bottom-right corner of the next page, she noticed a little passage, somewhat like a poem. "What on earth..." Zelda said as she read it.

--

Ness was down in the Pokemon storage room, where dozens of Pokeballs lined the walls. Inside each one was a special Pokemon, like a Torchic, a Gardevoir, or even a Munchlax! He should have kept a tighter grip on his yo-yo; a Piplup surfed by and had the string clamped tightly in its beak. Master Hand had caught it a few minutes ago; unfortunately, this meant the yo-yo was sucked into the Pokeball as well. Now he had to throw one at a time. If only they had special markings.

If only.

So far, Ness had to fend off a Meowth pelting him with lucky coins, a Torchic causing a fiery inferno, and a Goldeen just... splashing around. He threw the next one, and out came a Chikorita. "When is this going to end?" he wondered. Just then, Lucas came barging in. "What are you doing here?" Ness asked.

"Oh, nothing," Lucas answered. "What about you?"

Ness grabbed another Pokeball. "Oh, just looking for my yo-yo." He threw it. As the blinding light faded away, Ness saw... a Manaphy. "Cra--"

The Manaphy squealed and the room turned a light pink. Ness felt light-headed and soon had the feeling that he was out of his body. The next thing he knew, he was staring at himself. "Lucas?" His voice came out in Lucas' higher-pitched voice. It reminded him of when he was eight or so, with that horrendous squealing voice that could almost shatter windows.

"Ness?" Lucas replied, though with a slightly deeper voice. They both knew that they had switched bodies. "Uh, what are we going to do now?"

"The only thing I can think of doing is getting the Manaphy to swap our souls again." The Manaphy in question seemed to understand what was going on, and began to drift out the door. "OH, NO YOU DON'T!" cried Lucas (Ness). He tried to cast a PK Flash, only...

"Uh, I don't know PK Flash, remember?"

Ness fumed and blocked the Manaphy's path. It looked at him curiously before giggling and drifting up to the shelves of Pokeballs. As it glided on one shelf, it sent all the balls cascading to the ground. A brilliant flash filled the room.

"Oh, shi--"

But before he could finish his sentence, the next thing Lucas (Ness) felt was intense pain. He felt that his skin was on fire and he was conscious of the fact that there were projectiles slicing into his flesh. Then he felt the out-of-body experience as he drifted back into his own body. Unfortunately, it too, suffered the brunt force of all the Pokémons' combined attacks.

As he drifted from consciousness, he saw a Piplup surfing back and forth with a yo-yo in its beak before his eyes closed. The next thing he saw darkness. Pure darkness.

* * *

**And there's another chapter done. :3 Keep reading and send in your lovely reviews!**


	17. New Revelations

**Hey, look guys, an update!**

**Yeah, I know. I haven't updated in like 2 months. Nothing I can do about that, anyways. What I can do, however, is give you the next chapter.

* * *

**

"_So Krystal, what do you think?"_

"_This stuffed chicken never ceases to amaze me." Although living in a society with different types of animals, there were some that didn't… evolve._

_Fox had just finished his meal and was wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Tell me about it. You've never the tried the beef steak medium-rare, though. Now that's heaven on a plate."_

"_I don't like beef." Krystal wrinkled her nose. "Remember the little restaurant incident five months ago?"_

"_Oh, right." Fox nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well, you just about done?"_

"_Yeah, go on and pay the check. It's getting late, anyways."_

----

"What the hell was that?!"

Everyone two floors up could hear the explosion from below. Fox hastily scrambled down to the storage area, and was shocked at what he saw.

Pieces of debris were scattered across the floor. Wires from above dangled precariously, emitting an electrical discharge every four seconds. But worst of all were the injured Pokémon, all of which was either whimpering in pain or unconscious. A Piplup chirped weakly, holding a charred yo-yo in its beak.

"Oh, god, that's Ness', isn't it?!" Fox sprinted up to the badly-injured Pokémon and yanked it out of its beak. The others frantically began to dig through the rubble.

"Over here!" Meta Knight had swept away gravel off an overturned shelf. Ness was covered in dust, and later inspection revealed that he was breathing slowly, but taking in sharp intakes of air.

"Ness!" Fox ran over. "Are you all right?!"

What Ness mumbled weakly was anyone's guess, but Fox picked it up with his vulpine ears. "What? Lucas is here too?" Peach whimpered as she and Zelda lifted a slab of cement and found the boy unconscious.

"Get them to the infirmary now," ordered Meta Knight. Samus and Captain Falcon hastily picked the two up and whisked them away. Just seconds after they left, Master Hand floated in.

"My god, what happened?"

"We just found Ness and Lucas badly injured here. I can't be sure as to know as to what the cause is, but, there are a lot of Pokémon out of their Pokéballs," Fox reported.

"Well, what were they doing here?"

"I think Ness was after this." Fox held up the charred yo-yo. "Master Hand, are you sure we can't go back to our homes? I mean, wouldn't it be safer that way? We're not god-knows how many disaster zones rolled into one."

Zelda sighed and put a hand on Fox's shoulder. "Even though it makes sense, we'd be in a lot more danger. All of our worlds are very dangerous. What do you think would happen if we weren't there to keep an eye out for each other?" Fox's ears flattened. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

Zelda continued. "I found something very interesting." She held up the book that she had been reading. Its tattered cover sent a chill down Fox's spine. Never had he seen such an evil-looking book.

"Are you sure it's safe?" asked Fox. Zelda nodded and opened it. The pages were yellowed and gave off a pungent smell that made Fox wrinkle his nose in disgust. He didn't like that book; it made him feel uneasy.

"Well, yes and no," Zelda replied. "This is ancient tome taken from one of the greatest dark sorcerers in Hyrule for over a few millennia. Inside this book are spells so vile even I can't read them very long."

"Well, I can," Falco said.

"That's because you can't read that," retorted Zelda. "Anyway, this particular spell is a spell of necromancy."

"What's that?" asked Fox.

"Necromancy is a college of spells dedicated to death, such as raising bodies, manipulating death, and so on."

"Whoa, that's pretty powerful stuff."

"Not to mention dark," Zelda said, grimly. "I don't think even Ganondorf would meddle with this kind of magic."

"So what's it about?"

"This spell roughly translates to 'Trailing Death.' It's the closest thing I can find to what's been going on."

"So are you saying that there's someone out there who's put a curse on us?" Meta Knight asked.

"I'm not sure. What I discovered was that there was a warning on how it could be dispelled." Everyone perked up at these words and instantly fell silent.

"What is it?" asked Falco. Zelda hesitated.

"Well… from this little section in the corner—here—" she pointed to barely legible writing—"says something about new life."

"Didn't Mewtwo say something about defeating death?" Falco said. Fox nodded.

"He said that there was a way to keep it at bay, but he never exactly said what."

"This could be the answer," said Samus. "But what does 'new life' exactly mean?" There was a moment's silence. At first, everyone was in deep thought. But then, Snake realized what that meant and began to nod, while all the time staring at Samus. She noticed and took a few steps back.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I haven't been in school for a while, but I know what 'new life' means." He winked at her. Her eyes widened in realization.

"You don't mean…" And just as she was shocked at this revelation, she pursed her lips and whacked Snake on the side of his head. "Don't even think about it," she said.

"What's she talking about?" asked Fox. Samus sighed.

"He wants to knock me up." Fox stared. "He wants the duo to become a trio." Fox continued to stare. Her patience was growing thin. The other smashers, particularly Link and Ike, knew exactly what she meant. "HE WANTS TO PUT HIS PENIS IN MY VAGINA! God!" she screamed.

Falco put his wing on Fox's shoulder. "What she means is, Snake wants to dock his ship in Samus' port and let loose the crew."

"Ooooh..."

Link walked up to Falco. "How can he be a space mercenary and not know about 'the birds and the bees?'"

"Let's just say that 100% of his focus was in Arwings and battle tactics than in life."

"I see." He left, snickering.

Fox turned red with embarrassment. "I, uh, think we should check on Ness and Lucas." Peach nodded her head. Like the others, she, too, was worried about the fate of the two young psychics.

----

"How are they holding up?" Fox asked Dr. Mario. The good doctor frowned. He went over to his desk and checked his prognosis report on Ness and Lucas.

"Good news and bad news. The good news is that their condition has stabilized."

"What's the bad news?" asked Peach.

Dr. Mario pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "The bad news… the bad news is that I'm not sure if they'll ever wake up ever again."

"What do you mean?"

"They seem to have suffered quite some significant trauma from the incident. Whatever the case, they are not responding to any stimuli."

"So are they a lost cause?" asked Fox.

"It's going to depend on when they're going to wake up. If you want my opinion, I don't think they're going to wake up anytime soon. I can keep them on life support."

The steady blips from the electrocardiographs were the only sounds in the room. No one could make a definite decision; they were all too busy worrying about themselves. They filed out silently, but not before Peach whispered a "good luck" to the both of them. As she began to leave, Fox stopped her.

"I think we should check up on Popo." It had been quite a while since he visited the young Ice Climber. Instead of leaving the infirmary like the others, he and Peach walked over to the end of the room. Popo was sleeping soundly. Most of his burns had healed already. His mallet was set against the neighbouring stand.

"Aw, he's sleeping peacefully," cooed Peach.

Fox surveyed the infirmary. Popo's sister was nowhere to be seen. "Where is Nana, anyways?"

"Oh, I think she's still up in her room. Poor girl."

"I'm sure she's fine." Fox looked out the door. Marth was outside accosting Wolf. He stealthily edged closer and strained his hears to hear what they were frantically whispering about.

"…that is the most fucked up thing you've ever said, pretty boy."

"Stop calling me pretty boy! I know about your secret!"

Wolf started stuttering. "W-w-what do you mean? I've got no secret."

"Oh, you mean that—"

"Fox, what are you doing?" asked Peach. She had just finished looking after Popo and stood beside the StarFox leader.

"Oh, nothing. You know, I should be racking my brains figuring out how to save the next person."

"Hmm. Who's that again?"

"I have it written down on a sheet of paper, but if I remember correctly, I think it's Lucario."

Peach put a finger to her mouth. "I think he'll be all right. I mean, he can sense auras and he has fast reflexes, doesn't he?"

"I sure hope so."

Peach ran a gloved hand through her hair. "Oh, my, look at the time. It's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow, Fox. Good night."

"Night." Fox left the infirmary and instead of turning left towards his room, he walked straight ahead to the nearest bathroom. It's odd, he thought as he did his business. People that he knew for quite some time were dying left and right, and yet he didn't feel worried. Maybe he did in the beginning, but now? He was… relaxed. It was unnerving.

He turned to the sink to rinse his hands. As he did so, the mirror fogged up. Frowning, Fox raised his hand to wipe the glass. Even with his fur, the sensation of cold pierced into his flesh. He recoiled, and felt the warmth in the restroom gradually fade away. He could see his own breath now. Slowly, he walked out of the bathroom, and the warmth instantly returned.

"What… was that?"

----

The middle of the night was peaceful and quiet. There was no disturbance. In fact, one could say it was a nice little scene from a postcard. Fox was staring out the window, looking at the crescent moon. Its unearthly yellow pierced through the darkness, dimly illuminating the shadows.

_New life, huh?_ Fox stared up at the ceiling. _New life…_

But what was it that Marth was arguing with Wolf? What secret did he have? Oh great, now _he_ was gossiping. But while he's at it… _Now that I think about it, Wolf hasn't talked much to me these days. He hasn't even taunted me. A change of heart?_

_Well, it's no use thinking about it now._ He fluffed his pillow and snuggled into it and fell asleep.

----

Even though many of the brawlers use the night to take a good old-fashioned beauty sleep, there are a few who use the silence to their advantage. One such character was Lucario. During the day, mediation was hard. People running about, noises piercing into his mind, and a constant need for awareness around him.

It was a totally different story in the night. In the night, he was at peace a lot more. The occasional cricket chirp through him off, but he knew that there would be absolutely no one disturbing him.

Of course, that didn't mean that Master Hand let him out of the building (especially these days). He scoffed at the futile attempts. He quietly turned his doorknob and went out into the hallway. Stopping to hear any unusual sounds, Lucario then sensed for nearby auras. All the auras were green. _Perfect,_ he thought. _They're all asleep._ Using Extremespeed, he dashed down the stairs swiftly, but silently.

He then made it to ground floor. The double doors were there in front of him. Glancing left and right, he resumed his normal pace and extended an arm/paw towards the brass handle, engraved with the Smash symbol.

"Where are you going?"

He swiftly turned around, ready to take on the intruder. Squinting, he scanned for auras. There was one, but it was a blend of colours. Some red, some green, and a touch of yellow. As an aura is contained within its vessel when not injured or particularly excited, he could tell that the figure was short and round.

_Meta Knight?_

"I asked you, where are you going?"

_Out,_ Lucario said blandly.

"You know Master Hand is not going to like this."

_Then I'm afraid I'll have to take my chances, then. I want to fully open my mind into the cosmos. I am very close to fulfilling such a goal._

"Very well, then. I trust you to come back at the break of dawn?"

_I will._ Lucario opened the doors and felt the slight night breeze against his fur. Lucario trekked towards the waterfall. No one was sure exactly why, but feeling water crash down upon one's back was very refreshing.

After a five-minute walk, he was greeted with the towering waterfall. Lucario mentally prepared himself before walking underneath the raging cascades. The water pounded heavily pounded on his back. He adjusted quickly to the waters beating upon him. He began to clear his mind. Now, many people would be unable to do so. Thinking about nothing (excluding the thought about nothing) was impossible for some "practitioners."

Lucario, however, had a technique that he considered was foolproof. First, he scanned for all immediate auras in the vicinity. Then, he shut down his senses, one by one, by sending interfering aura to cut off the flow of aura to his eyes, nose, ears, etc. By then, he would be in a black abyss of nothing, and he'd steadily clear his mind. Even so, however, he would be sent back to reality soon enough.

This time, however, he was sure to reach his goal. This time, as soon as the pounding of water on his back faded away, he felt calm at once. A few seconds later, a glimmer of light shot through the darkness.

It was a golden flower, but no stem. It was radiating an iridescent golden light which awed Lucario. It stayed there, all the while getting ever brighter.

_This must be… nirvana._

----

Peach turned and twisted in her sleep. It was the fifth time she had a nightmare this week. She was back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Her faithful advisor, Toadsworth had just left to call a summons for the Mushroom Council.

She sat by the window, quietly sipping a cup of tea. It was peaceful these past few weeks. No attacks by Bowser or some evil invader from outer space. The clouds with faces drifted by lazily, lolling away.

"Princess? Mario and Luigi are here to see you." Toadsworth had returned.

"Thank you, Toadsworth." She gracefully glided down the stairs and went across the mezzanine. "Mario! Luigi! I'm so glad you could—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as she saw that the two of them were… well, shambling across the room on their rotten feet. Their faces were nothing but skull and a few strands of flesh holding together two bulging eyeballs. The two had their arms outstretched, ready to grab the princess. She screamed.

She ran backwards only to be accosted by Toadsworth. "I say, Princess, you are not being ladylike at all!"

"Toadsworth, Mario and Luigi are zombies! They have this awful smell, and all their skin was peeling off!" Toadsworth fell silent.

"You mean like this?" At those words, Toadsworth's glasses slid to the floor as he began to decay. Peach whimpered and shakily took a few steps back. "You can't hide from your fate, Princess…"

She let out a high-pitched squeal before plunging into darkness. The next thing she knew was that she was staring up at a pink ceiling. She sat up and heard the faint chirp of crickets outside. She was in the mansion. She was safe. She quietly laid back down, but after several minutes, got up frustrated and went down to the kitchen to fix up a little snack. She ended up making a sloppy sandwich which tasted like dirty clothes with dead flies sprinkled all over it.

I don't think I can go on, she thought as she rinsed her mouth with five glasses of water. She went back up the stairs, hoping that there would finally be a chance to get back to sleep. On the way, however, her eyes passed over the infirmary. Her room can wait, thought Peach. She probably wasn't going to be able to sleep, anyways. She walked down the hall and quietly opened the door.

All of the children were sleeping blissfully. She sat by Ness and Lucas, watching over them.

-/-

"_Hey, there! Are you a newcomer?" Peach was at a loss for words._

"_Um, yes. Is this the Melee tournament?"_

"_Yep! My name's Ness. You?"_

"_My name's Princess Peach. I'm from the Mushroom Kingdom." She looked at him for a sign of recognition._

_Ness fiddled with his hat. "Mushroom Kingdom… sounds familiar… wait!" Ness pulled the bill of his cap back. "Do you know Mario and Luigi?"_

"_Why, yes I do! In fact, they're the ones who told me about this tournament! I wanted to come watch, but…"_

"_You got the letter?" Ness took out a piece of paper with a gold foil border. She turned around and took out the exact same paper. "Yep. That means Master Hand thinks you've got good fighting skills."_

"_Me? Fighting skills?" Peach laughed nervously._

"_Duh. Otherwise you wouldn't be a contestant, right?" Peach didn't answer. She decided to change the topic._

"_So, where are you from, Ness?"_

"_Me? I'm from Onett, Eagleland, but I'm sure you've never heard of that." She shook her head. "Thought so. When I first came here, I didn't know anyone, and they all looked so different! In fact, there's one of them over there right now." He pointed at some point behind Peach, who turned to look over her shoulder. There were… people with animal heads? One had the unmistakable look of a fox and the other some kind of dark-blue bird. The two were chatting amicably._

"_That guy's Fox McCloud. He's from some place called the Lylat System. He claims that he's one of the best pilots in his universe." Fox's eyes strayed and met Peach's for an instant. Both of their cheeks had a faint pink tint. Ness snapped his fingers. "Peach, you still with me here?"_

"_Huh? Oh, yes, I am." Ness squinted at her._

"_If you say so. Tell you what. I'll help you carry your luggage in. I think your servants are dying from the looks of it." The Toads carrying her bags were sweating profusely and were about to drop senseless. Peach agreed hastily. Ness then surprised Peach by using his psychokinetic powers to lift the bags off the ground and have them trail after him._

_A year after the Melee tournament ended, another invitation was sent out to Peach. "Brawl? How does Master Hand come up with these names?" she muttered as she was dropped off at the mansion._

_As she entered the foyer, she was greeted by Ness and a blonde-haired boy who was shuffling his feet. "Long time no see, Ness. Who's that with you?"_

"_Him? Oh, this is Lucas from the Nowhere Islands!"_

"_H-hi…"_

_Ness continued. "He's got PSI powers too!" Lucas flushed. "C'mon! Show her your PK Freeze!"_

"_O-ok…" He put his hands forward and a small crystal of ice formed before hitting the ground. It shattered and released cold air._

"_That's really good!" said Peach._

"_R-r-really?" Lucas' face stretched into a nervous grin. Peach nodded enthusiastically._

"_You should come to my tea parties! You, too, Ness." Ness groaned at the mention of his name and "party" at the same time._

_Truth be told, the tea parties were actually pretty fun. Some of the others (Nana, Zelda, Samus (reluctantly)) went as well, happily chatting/gossiping about life during the tournament and their own. Lucas soon became one of the top three contributors._

-/-

"Oh, Ness, Lucas…" moaned Peach. These two boys were just so much fun to be with. She wished them a "Get well soon" and was heading for the door.

"P-Peach?" She turned around and turned the nearby bed light on. Popo was rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Popo!" she whispered. "You're awake! Are you feeling better?"

"I guess so." His voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "How's Nana?"

"She's been very worried about you," answered Peach. "Did you hear about Ness and Lucas?"

"What? No, I haven't. Where are they?"

"Right next to you." Popo slowly turned his head to the right. Peach told him everything that had happened.

Popo fell silent. "And you've found a way to get us out of this mess?"

"Well, it's really Zelda. Something about 'new life.'"

"New life? Dunno what that means… Just be safe, okay?"

"I will." Peach rose up and turned it off.

----

"Death? Bah! I am Ganondorf, holder of the Triforce of Power! I cannot be stopped!"

The self-proclaimed King of Evil was busy pacing back and forth in his gloomy room. The walls were covered over with pieces of parchment with an unknown language written on them. In the corner, there seemed to be a container that was shaking somewhat, as if something inside was trying to get out.

Like Zelda, Ganondorf also had a tome for evil magic. He didn't need a spell for immortality; his piece of the Triforce had seen to that. But just to be on the safe side, he opened the book to a spell giving the caster an impervious body.

"This will do just nicely."

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**And so I finished this somewhat long chapter. Keep reading (and sending in your lovely reviews)!**


	18. A Life Worth Living

**Wow, it's been a year since I've started this story! Happy anniversary!!**

_Heron Park was a site where lovers gathered. The stars above and the whispering night set up a romantic mood to do what Fox wanted._

"_Oh, Fox, this is so beautiful!" Krystal had just found the Fountain of Eternal Love, so aptly named for the numerous couples that had proposed there. Fox just smiled back, hands behind his back. Krystal hurried forward to take Fox's hand. He slipped the object in his hands into his back pocket. She dragged him to the fountain side. The two of them sat down._

"_This has been such a wonderful night, Fox." Krystal was staring off into the horizon, misty-eyed._

"_Yes, Krystal, and it's going to get better." The blue vixen turned towards him._

"_How do you mean?" The pilot just grinned._

"_Krystal, how long have we initiated an intimate bond?"_

"_What?"_

"_Uh, I mean, going out."_

"_About a year, give or take a few weeks. Why?"_

"_Well, I've just been thinking. We'll always be together, right?" _

_Krystal turned away. "I guess."_

_Fox grinned. "That's why…" he dug into his pockets and pulled out a little box. "I want to ask you." Opening it, Fox showed Krystal a ring embedded with a small sapphire._

"_Will you marry me?"_

He didn't like it. That no good girly prince from wherever was getting on his nerves. Wolf O'Donnell wanted to stick his claws into that slender throat and draw blood.

He had been strolling throughout the mansion for the past two hours, way before anyone was awake. This is what he did whenever he was troubled. Could Fox find out? No. He'd rather die than have that ungrateful son of a bitch find out.

The second floor walls were adorned with many artifacts of war. Swords, shields, even a crossbow that shot bolts of fire was mounted as well.

He then heard a clatter on the floor. There was no one else here, as far as he could tell. Fearing that it might be his impending doom, he dashed swiftly down the hallway, not sparing a second to look behind him.

The source of the noise was a steel-gray shield line with fur that fell to the ground, resounding throughout the entire building. A breeze blew over the hairs, even though there was no explainable source of the wind.

----

Fox woke up with a start. The sun was barely up. It was that same damned scene from his past again. Why was he having these dreams? Just thinking about them was painful.

He glanced out his window. There was morning fog outside. Odd, he thought. Not once at his stay here did he ever witness unclear scenery. He took it as an omen. Staring at himself in the mirror, he groaned. All the fur on his head was sticking up in every direction.

He wasn't obsessed with his looks like some people (Marth and/or Peach were the first that came to mind), but even this was too much to look at. He opened the top drawer and pulled out his comb. A few stray hairs were still on it. He brought it up to his head. As clumps of disheveled fur were being straightened, he looked down and saw the "death list," as he called it.

He checked the names. Those who had been killed had their names scratched out. He looked at the ones right after Ness. Next was Lucario, followed by Ganondorf. After came Zelda, then Meta Knight. After him? His two fellow space pilots. Then it was just Peach and him…

Wait a minute. Fox looked at the list again. There were some names missing from it. Neither Ike nor Marth were on it. Sonic the annoying hedgehog wasn't, either. Was this some kind of cruel joke?

Come to think of it, he never saw them in his premonition. Were they ever on the Halberd in the first place? He'd have to ask Meta Knight. He was about to go to said knight's room when he remembered that he didn't like to be woken up involuntarily. He'd wait till breakfast.

----

"Finally, it is done."

Ganondorf leaned against the wall, panting. It had taken him the entire night to complete the spell.

"Whatever is coming to get me, it will be futile," he laughed. There was a vial of glowing golden fluid hovering in front of him. He greedily gulped it down. His body began to glow as well, and warmth blanketed his entire body. "For now, I am invincible!"

Everyone else in the building covered their ears with their pillows after his infamous evil laugh.

----

Breakfast was, as always, a subdued affair: Falco poked at his eggs, Link was absent-mindedly chewing on his toast, and Ike was busy wolfing down pancakes.

Gotta remember to ask Meta Knight, thought Fox. Meta Knight was just silently staring at his food. Fox had never seen Meta Knight eat before. Does he eat through the slit of his mask? Or does he use superhuman speed to eat it all without anyone noticing? Doesn't look like he's gonna eat it, though…

"Say, Meta Kni—"

"Hey, guys." Everyone turned. Samus could only say, "Oh, my, god."

Popo was limping down the stairs, holding onto the rail carefully. As soon as he touched the ground, he was swarmed by everyone, offering their congratulations. Well, almost everyone. Wolf and Ganondorf hung back. They said nothing, but they chuckled in relief unbeknownst to everyone.

Nana threw herself at her brother. "Nana, stop. You're choking me." She loosened her hold on him.

"I was so worried!" Popo saw that, alright; evident tear marks were streaked across her face and the black circles under her eyes told him that she hadn't been getting much sleep.

"Good to see you up!" said Captain Falcon. Popo thanked him half-heartedly. He wasn't sure whether or not that was sincere.

Well, he'll just take it as sincere.

After Popo's return, the room's atmosphere was much livelier. Zelda laughed at jokes Peach told her.

"…so then, the Koopa says to the Goomba, 'Dude, you are a fungus!' and the Goomba says, 'Oh. I think I just killed my child.'"

Zelda laughed weakly. "I thought you were crushed by Bowser's creepy clown car."

"Yes, but someone gave me Rakki Kyandi™."

"What?"

"Lucky Candy™."

"Never heard of it… but enough about that, Peach. What about you-know-who?"

"Who are you talking about?"

Zelda sighed. "Oh, Peach, you can't fool me. I see the way you look at Fox."

Peach blushed. "K-k-keep your voice down!"

Zelda ignored her. "C'mon, Peach, you can tell me!"

"What's there to tell?"

"Peach." Zelda rested her hands on top of Peach's. "It's very, very obvious that you're…" she lowered her voice. "_…in love with him_."

"I… I…" The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom was at a loss for words. "W-wait. Where's Lucario?"

"Who's Lucario?" asked Samus. Fox looked at her. "What? I can't make a joke?"

Fox shook his head. "No, Peach is right. Where _is_ Lucario?" He scanned everyone. There was no bipedal jackal amongst them. He did, however, notice that Meta Knight was avoiding everyone's eyes. Meta Knight saw Fox staring at him and quickly walked over to the velvet-covered stairs. Fox pounced onto the little warrior.

"Fox, what are you doing?!" Meta Knight was struggling, but the vulpine held on tight.

"You know something, don't you?" Fox's grip tightened. The next thing he knew, he let out a yelp of pain was holding a bleeding paw.

Meta Knight sheathed his sword. "What makes you think that?" Everyone began to crowd around.

"Fox, what's going on?" asked Snake. His hand was at his belt, ready to draw his Beretta.

"Meta Knight knows what happened to Lucario," Fox stated bluntly.

"You're right, Fox, I do know where he is."

"So why aren't you telling us?"

"Because I…" Meta Knight paused. "He may be at the waterfall."

Everyone ran for the doors. Fox lingered behind, holding his injured hand. "Why didn't you just tell us?" The knight didn't respond.

"I was embarrassed." Fox gave him a puzzled look. "I'm ashamed that I willingly let someone break the rules." As a strict follower of rules, it came to no surprise that he would try to uphold his honour.

"Look, Meta Knight—"

But Fox was interrupted by a high-pitched scream from outside. Fox and Meta Knight looked through the doors. "That was Peach," Fox said. "We have to go!"

----

As Fox and Meta Knight neared the waterfall, the looks on everyone's faces was enough to tell them that it wasn't good news.

The roar of the waterfall deafened everyone, but that didn't stop them from seeing what was in the water.

Repeatedly bashing against the shore was Lucario's body, still and lifeless. As Ike and Sonic ("I hate water!) dragged the body out, Dr. Mario entered the scene with a gurney behind him. Fox put his hands to ears as the squeaking wheels drew closer. Dr. Mario sighed as he instructed the two strong men to lift the body onto it. When will this madness ever stop?

"Hey, doc, you mind telling us how he died?" asked Falco.

"I won't know until I get him back in." Dr. Mario began wheeling the gurney back into the mansion. The doctor soon receded into the trees.

Everyone began chatting hurriedly. Marth, Ike, and Pit were off to one side, whispering frantically about their impending doom.

"Who's going to be next?" asked Peach. The talking ceased. Everyone turned towards Peach. It got so quiet, you could hear everyone's hearts beating in unison. They all turned to look at Fox, waiting for the inevitable answer.

"It's…" Fox paused. The others looked at him in apprehension. "It's Ganondorf."

No one said a word. Then, at the back of the crowd, someone began laughing. Ganondorf was cackling. "That, that's hilarious! I, the great Ganondorf, die?" He walked up to Fox, sneering. "Fool, I have the Triforce of Power. That makes me immortal. What's more, I have found a way to make myself invincible."

"You what?!" Fox was confused now. If Ganondorf can't die, then how would his list work? No matter. If Ganondorf was ok now, then maybe, the chain could be broken?

----

"Meta Knight, can I ask you a question?"

Everyone was moving back into the mansion, hoping that they would get over Lucario's death soon. Fox and Meta Knight trailed behind.

"What?" Meta Knight was still cross about the way Fox crudely interrogated him. He did not look at Fox.

"Well, it's about my premonition. Remember that list I made?"

"What about it?"

"It's missing a few names. And I'm absolutely positive that I jotted everyone's name. Do you think that a few weren't supposed to get on?"

"Let me think… ah." The Star Warrior turned to face him. "Now that I think about it, I remember the unnecessary drama that they caused at the airport. God, I hate that stupid fucking hedgehog," he muttered.

Fox hurried his pace, leaving the knight walking on his own.

"I… see."

----

Peach stroked Ness' hair as she listened to the steady blips on the monitor next to him. Their injuries were beginning to heal. She sighed. These two young charming boys were in a deep sleep, and there was nothing she could do to help.

"Hey, are you still here?"

Fox was standing in the doorway of the infirmary, clutching his bloody paw.

"Yes, I'm still here." She smiled weakly. "Still haven't gotten that bandaged yet?"

"Nope. Actually, I think I might have an infection already!" Peach giggled. The brief moment of joy was interrupted when Dr. Mario stepped out of his office.

"Well, doc? What's your verdict?" asked Fox. The doctor beckoned him to follow. He went into an unused room. The air was cold, and the body of the jackal was strewn across the floor.

"How did Lucario die?" Dr. Mario cleared his throat. "I listed official cause of death as hypothermia. Something tells me he exposed himself to cold water way past his ability."

"I'm finding that hard to believe." Dr. Mario turned to look at Fox. "I mean, it's Lucario we're talking about here. You know how careful he is. There's no way he'd go and risk it."

"I'm sorry, Fox, but that's just how it is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have records to file." The doctor locked the room as they left. "Good day, Mr. McCloud." He shut himself in his office.

Fox walked back over to the two boys. "Oh, Fox, what are we going to do? I don't want any more of us to die." He moved forward and hugged her.

"Peach, neither do I? But this probably isn't going to end unless there's… what? New life?" She fell silent and turned away. "Peach? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just, I've been thinking about the whole new life thing. Well, since Samus isn't willing, and I haven't talked to Zelda about it, I thought, maybe I could save us all."

"You mean—" She turned to face him.

"Yes, I'd be willing to have a baby."

Fox sputtered, "That's great, Peach, but with who? I'm pretty sure a lot of guys would like to have—"

"I was hoping it would be you, Fox."

He nearly had a heart attack. "You're kidding, right? I mean, sure you're worried about all of us dying, but—"

"Fox, I'm serious!"

"So am I!" he roared. "I mean, even if we did have one, what would our child look like?"

"Fox—" she started, but he had already stormed out.

----

Up one floor, a pissed lupine was having his own tantrum. That girly pansy of a prince was back again, shouting in his ear like Peach singing. God, it gave Wolf a headache.

"I'm just saying there's something about Fox that you can't resist!" Marth had just struck a nerve. The next thing the prince of Altea knew was that he was being held up by his collar and pressed against a wall.

"What are you, my fucking shrink?"

"Can't… breathe…"

"If you ever mention this again, I am going to slit your fucking throat, cunt, got that?" Marth hastily nodded. He fell to the floor, gasping for air. "Now leave me the hell alone."

Marth was not pleased. As a somewhat spoiled brat, he wasn't going to let a mangy cur like Wolf get away with assaulting the prince of Altea. The prince! That filthy mutt was going to pay, but how?

----

"And I'm saying, guns are much better than swords!"

Approximately fifteen minutes ago, Falco and Link had devolved a simple talk about weapons into a full-out war on what is better: guns or swords? "Think about it! With guns, you don't need to go close-range to hit your target!

"True, but with swords, you don't run out of ammo," said Link as he smirked at Falco's elevating rage. There was a purplish tinge around his cheeks. "Besides, I have the Master Sword, the one blade that vanquished the King of Evil many times. What do you have? A ship that shoots lasers. That's old school. At least I have magic."

"Alright, then. Since you're so tough, go and prove it."

Link unsheathed his sword. "I will. When Ganondorf gets here, I'll—"

"You'll what?" Ganondorf had just stopped behind Link, looking bemused. "Dance like a tree-hugging Kokiri? Oh, but that's what you are."

Falco laughed. "Shut it, bird, that wasn't funny," growled Link. "And what about you? What do you want?"

"Nothing, really. It's just that I couldn't help overhearing about your puny sword." He had struck a nerve. Link took his fighting stance. "But if you want, I'll amuse you," he continued.

And so everyone gathered on the meadow outside the mansion. Snake had set up bets. Everyone picked Ganondorf (except for Zelda, who had undying faith in Link's skill, and Toon Link, who hated Ganondorf anyways).

"Are the combatants ready?" asked Meta Knight, who had agreed to be the referee for this unauthorized match. The two nodded. "Very well, then. 3, 2, 1, GO!"

Link ran at Ganondorf, swinging his sword wildly. Ganondorf was forced backwards and dodged or blocked with dark magic against every strike. The dark king then leaped into the air and hurled orbs of energy at Link. The Hylian Shield that he had on him was useful, but as he leapt to attack, he was struck by a stray energy orb.

Seizing this chance, Ganondorf ran at Link. Link started sweating, and at the last moment, rolled off to the side around Ganondorf and jumped up, swing his sword three times around. Ganondorf cried in pain and got really pissed.

"This has gone too far!" he yelled as he slammed a fist into the ground. Dark energy crackled from the point of impact, spreading rapidly like cracked glass. The earth opened up, threatening to swallow the young Hylian.

Link jumped backwards from the widening abyss, and continued jumping away from the raging monster in front of him. "This isn't over!" he shouted, and as soon as Ganondorf made his last jump, Link jumped higher, and sent his sword crashing down on Ganondorf's crown.

The King of Evil screamed as he fell into the endless chasm. As Link touched the ground again, he looked in horror as the ground closed up in front of him. Everyone gasped as they heard the man's yells die away.

"The winner is… Link!" Meta Knight hesitantly pointed towards Link, designating him as the victor. The others clapped slowly.

"Wait, but Ganondorf isn't dead, is he?" asked Falco. "He's immortal, right?!"

"I think he's suffering a fate worse than death right now… he's as good as dead," muttered Fox.

300 metres below the surface was a certain olive-skinned man, crushed by rock, but very much alive. He could not move, nor could he scream or utilize his magic.

He was trapped, forever.

----

It was nighttime, and mostly everyone had gone to bed. Fox was holding back a yawn, when he saw Peach outside his room.

"Peach? What are you doing here?"

"N-nothing. It's just…" she turned away. Fox put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok, you can tell me." She sniffled and turned back towards him, tears in her eyes.

"Fox, I-I really like you." He was taken aback. She? In love with him? Impossible! But, he felt the same way too, right? "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I guess I'll—"

But what she was going to do, she didn't say. He shut her up instantly with a kiss. She felt the brush of his fur against her skin as he pulled her into a passionate embrace. "You know I've been thinking, Peach. Maybe we should do it."

Peach pulled away from him. "You mean…"

"Yeah, I do. I mean, we probably aren't going to live to see tomorrow."

"If everyone else dies tomorrow as well." He laughed.

"True, but I'm saying we should make the most out of our lives. So why not have a child?" Peach felt tears coming out of her eyes.

"Fox, thank you." He said nothing. He opened the door and let her in. Smiling to himself, he locked the door behind him.

**And that's your anniversary chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed the cheesy romance scene at the end!**

**Random Trivia:**

**The Lucky Candy that Peach mentioned is a tribute to Bowser's Kingdom, which you can find on Newgrounds.**


	19. Two for Two

'**bout time for another update, no?

* * *

**

"_So what do you say, Krystal?" She stared at the beautiful sapphire ring. It matched her deep cerulean eyes. She looked up and saw Fox, glowing with hope, waiting for that one answer._

"…_I…I'm sorry Fox, I can't."_

_She cringed when his face blanched. "What do you mean?"_

"_The thing is… I can't marry you."_

"_Why not?" Fox asked. His eyes widened. "Don't tell me… there's someone else—"_

"_Of course not." She'd have to tell him, sooner or later. "It's to make sure you'll be safe."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_The truth is…"_

Fox shielded his eyes from the rising sun. Birds chirped outside, signaling the start of a new day. He looked over to his side. Peach was still sleeping. As he got out of bed, he fixed a corner of the quilt that exposed her shoulder. _Did I do the right thing?_ he wondered. He understood that it had to be done, but for what? Was it out of love, or was it just survival?

Putting on his everyday attire, he silently closed the door behind him as not to awake his princess. He'd think about this later.

----

"So I'm asking you to help me, ok?"

Somewhere, on the second floor hallway, Marth was busy talking to a groggy Ike, who didn't enjoy being woken up before seven-thirty. "No. Now leave me alone; I wanna go get back to sleep." Marth grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back.

"I said you were going to help me," Marth said venomously. Ike gulped. It was another Marth tantrum, and he wasn't stupid enough to ignore that. Ike gave in.

"Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to help me dig up some stuff on Wolf." Ike did a double take. He was fully awake now.

"Are you crazy? If he catches any of us snooping around in his room, he'd grill us, eat us, and then kill us!" All of a sudden, Marth pushed him into the wall with surprising strength, his grip tightening._ For a wimpy prince, he sure is tough!_ thought Ike.

"Are you a swordsman or aren't you? We could take on a stupid mutt that walks on two legs anytime!"

"All right, all right!" Marth released Ike, letting him crumple to the floor. "Just let me write a farewell letter while you're at it, will you?"

----

After breakfast, there was chatter amongst those who were still alive. After the terrible incident yesterday, Master Hand wasn't sure if he should put down a marker for Ganondorf. He left it up to the others to decide.

"Someone like him? Hmph, he should stay where he is and rot," muttered Link.

"Even so, I believe that it would be better to respect his memory," Meta Knight said. "No matter how much pain and hurt he has caused us—" Link snorted—"he is one of us, and he should deserve the same treatment the others have had," Meta Knight continued.

Master Hand floated silently in the air for a few seconds. Then he said, "All in favour, raise your hand." All but Link and his cartoon counterpart lifted their right arm. "Then it's settled," said Master Hand. Link pouted and was in a bad mood for a good part of the morning.

As everyone went their separate ways, Link was stopped by Fox. "Fox, what is it?" he sighed. Fox said nothing but motioned Link to follow him outside into the hallway. "Fox, tell me what it is," he asked again as soon as he passed the doors.

Fox looked both ways and made sure no one was around. "There's something I have to tell you."

"Well, obviously. What is it?" Fox hesitated. "If you're not telling me in the next second, I'm leaving," Link said as he began to walk away.

"It's about Zelda." Link turned around sharply. The look in his eyes was as frenzied as a wild animal backed into a corner with no means to escape.

"What about Zelda?"

"After Meta Knight, she's going to be next, Link."

Link turned pale. "Does she know?"

"No one does." Fox shrugged his shoulders. His ears flickered. He heard faint footsteps from far away, getting closer. "You're the only one I've told." Link froze there, uttering not a word. "Listen," said Fox. "You're going to have to tell her sooner or later." Without warning, the Hylian turned on his heel and walked away, oblivious to everything but the inevitable fate of his liege.

The footsteps that Fox heard drew closer, thumping against the linoleum. He turned to look behind him, and saw Marth walking proudly before him. "Hey, Marth," greeted Fox, hand raised in acknowledgement. The prince said nothing, but gave him a small nod. Soon he and his footsteps faded away.

_Well, that was weird,_ Fox thought. _Probably off doing princely things._

He walked in the other direction. What was there to do? _There's nothing do to these days,_ he thought. The sun shone through the windows. The feel of the rays on his fur was soothing._ Might as well go back up for a little nap._

"Fox?" He looked around and saw Peach, looking a little worried.

"Oh, hey, Peach. What's up?"

"I've been thinking… maybe we should tell someone about, what happened last night…"

"You haven't told anyone, right?! You didn't?!" Fox grabbed her shoulders. She winced from his tight grip.

"Fox, you're hurting me." He let go. "No, I just said I haven't."

"Good. You can't tell anyone."

"Fox, why not?" she asked, massaging her shoulders.

"You just can't!"

Peach puffed air into her cheeks. "Fox, you're being awfully controlling right now." He walked hurriedly, all the while saying over his shoulder,

"Please, just don't tell anyone."

----

"I still think this is a stupid idea."

"Shut up and help me!"

Marth and Ike were both in Wolf's room, after Marth had picked the lock ("Where on earth did you learn to do that?" asked Ike). The room was an absolute disgrace. Books were strewn across the floor, the bed was unmade, and a spare suit was slumped in front of a closet.

"Well, I guess this would make it easier to look."

"Marth, what the hell are we even looking for?"

"My dear Ike, we're looking for anything that could embarrass that horrible furball. What else?"

"Fine, but if he catches us, I'm leaving you take the fall." The two began to dig through the mess.

"I don't think there's anything here," said Ike. It had been twenty minutes and they almost turned the entire room upside down. Their search had been fruitless. "Let's go, before he comes back."

"No, I'm sure that there's something around here." As Marth said that, he tripped over his own feet and went crashing onto the ground. Marth winced from the fall and touched something leathery as he tried to stand back up.

It was a pocket-sized book, bound with black leather. He opened it. It seemed to be a journal of sorts. "Hey, Ike, check it out!" Ike looked over and blanched.

"Oh my god, Marth, you're not serious, are you?" He started to pull the book from Marth's grip, which tightened.

"Of course I am! This will be the key to—"

Just then, they heard footsteps drawing closer to the room. Before Marth registered what was going on, he was dragged underneath the bed by Ike, dropping the journal in the process. The scent of discarded socks overwhelmed Marth's nose. "Augh! This is disgusting!"

"Shut up!"

The door opened and the two saw two studded boots take three steps before pausing. It began taking slower steps around the room. "Could've sworn I heard voices here…" they heard the low voice rumble. Marth and Ike held their breaths. They watched as Wolf's feet patrolled the room. "What the—" They both gulped as quietly as they could, but in the silence it was magnified hundredfold. "Who was flipping through this?!" they heard him snarl. They watched in horror as the boots moved frantically around the room.

"I know you're still in here!" Wolf edged towards the bed and put a clawed hand around the fabric hiding the two unlucky swordsmen. As he lifted it, he got a face full of putrid socks that hadn't seen the light of day for a long time. Wolf screamed as he closed his eyes and pinched his nose, trying not to get any more of the noxious fumes into his system.

"Now!" Marth whispered to Ike. He nodded, and the two of them bolted through the door before Wolf recovered.

----

"So how was your day, Samus?" asked Peach.

"Oh, it's fine. Waiting for someone else to die is so exciting, you know?"

Samus, Zelda, and Peach were in Peach's room, which functioned as a tearoom. Aside from the glaring pink walls, the three sat around a circular white table, with light-pink cups of the finest Mushroom Kingdom tea in their hands.

"Oh, fine, I swear Snake is following me again," Samus continued. "Does that answer your question?"

"I guess," said Zelda. She looked over to Peach. "How have you been, Peach? You haven't said much."

"I guess I'm a little tired. After what happened last night…" she muttered.

"What was that?" asked Zelda. "What about last night?" Peach cursed the Hylian princess' sensitive hearing.

"Oh, nothing much. Seriously, I really mean there's nothing to go on." The two continued to stare at her. "Um, you can stop doing that now."

"Peach, you know that sooner or later it's going to get around, so just tell us."

"Um…"

After a few minutes of pestering, Peach thought about what Fox had said. It was just a thought. He didn't need to go ballistic, so to spite him, she told them what had happened, though a few details were left out.

"Really?! No way, Peach! There's absolutely no way that can happen!" exclaimed Samus. "So who is it?" Peach didn't answer. "Come on, tell us!"

"I've told you so much. Can't you guys just drop it?"

"Absolutely not," said Samus. "This is the most exciting thing we've heard since Sonic had an overdose on crack."

"Well," said Zelda. "Why did you do it?"

"Because it's the only way to survive."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, we were told that new life was something that could break the cycle," said Peach. The two nodded. "Well, this is new life."

"I guess," said Zelda. "But the question is, why did you do it?" Peach tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

"As much as we are grateful that you saved us, what did you feel? Obligation? Or love?"

"Um, love, I guess…"

The silence between them lengthened. After what felt like hours on end, Zelda stood up and patted her dress. "Well, I have to go and get ready for dinner. Thank you for the tea, Peach." Peach waved farewell and Samus lifted her cup in acknowledgement.

She was halfway there when all of a sudden she collided into something green and crashed down to the ground. Massaging her back, she realized what had just walked into. "Link!" she exclaimed. Both he and she shared surprised looks, but for totally different reasons. "I wasn't expecting you!" They both got up. "Link? Are you ok?" He snapped out of his daze.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" He ran off. Zelda frowned. It wasn't like Link to not tell her what was wrong. She opened the door to her room and shut it behind her. She walked towards the middle of the room and reached out into empty air.

"O Triforce of Wisdom, grant me thy power temporarily to delve into one's mind." The Triforce symbol on her left hand began to glow a faint blue. As her vision grew lighter, she focused her thoughts on Link.

She found herself behind Link. He seemed to be crouching in front of something. Moving closer in for a closer look, she saw that it was a grave carved from fine marble.

She was confused. Where was this? She looked around. She was in a graveyard, bordered by tall cliffs. Looking behind her, she saw an all-too familiar windmill. _This… is Kakariko Village? Then this must be…_

She turned back to the marker and froze in horror.

Her name was etched onto it. _So, I die… do I?_ she thought.

"Thought I'd find you here," someone spoke from behind her. She turned around and saw Fox, whose features had become more chiseled.

"It's been exactly five years since her death," Link said without looking back. Fox nodded. "At least the menace is over for good, thanks to you, Fox."

"No need." Fox's ears drooped. "Still, if I had figured it out earlier…"

"You can't blame yourself, Fox."

"Nor you yourself, Link. Even if you had told her, it wouldn't have made a difference."

As she stood up, the world around her began to fade away into bright light. Slowly her room came back into focus. Zelda shivered at the prospect of her impending doom. Just then, there was a knock at her door. She jumped.

"Zelda, are you still in there?" It was Peach. "Dinner's going to start soon!"

"I'm coming!" she yelled back. As she left, Zelda pushed all thoughts of her death from her mind. _No use worrying about it now._

----

Dr. Mario was up in the infirmary, checking the IVs of both boys that remained unconscious. As he walked over to his office, his hand brushed against Ness' bed. It rolled away from him slowly, wheels squeaking. "Oh!" He stopped it from rolling any further. "Gotta get these fixed…"

As he closed the door, a nearby window blew open and a strong gust of wind rushed in. The two beds rolled out of the infirmary and out the open doors. They picked up speed as they went down the hallway, and both boys were rattled as they bumped down the stairs.

They were now in the grand foyer, hurtling towards the dining room. The doors slammed against its hinges as they rolled in.

"What the hell?!" cried Samus. Reflexes kicking in, everyone was ready to thwart the incoming nemesis.

"Wait a minute!" cried Fox. "That's—"

Everyone realized it too. At a loss at what else to do, those in front of the table moved out of the way. Those behind weren't so lucky. The table flew into the air and crashed through the windows, sending a cascade of glass shards crashing into the ground.

The carnage stopped. Fox got up and felt a trickle of blood on his arm. No one was severely injured, except—

"Where's Meta Knight? Where's Zelda?" said Link. He ran out and sifted through the debris. In the middle of it all he found the two of them. There was no sign of life from Meta Knight, and Zelda was breathing shallowly.

"Zelda, hang on! Dr. Mario will look after you!"

"I don't think so, Link. I know that you knew that I was next." Link paled.

"But—how—"

"I used the Triforce of Wisdom, Link. I didn't want to, but you looked so worried, so sad, I—" she coughed-- "I saw you Link. Five years into the future. And Fox—" At this, Link turned around to look at Fox—"Fox will save you all, because this isn't over…"

Her breathing grew slower until finally she breathed her last, and her arms fell to her sides, limp.

"Zelda? Zelda?!" Link howled. Everyone bowed their heads in silence. Samus lent an arm to Peach, who silently wept onto her glove.

"Ugh…" Fox's ears perked up. Toon Link jumped in shock. He had felt something brush his arm.

"Guys! Over here!" Everyone (save Link) rushed over to see what the commotion was about. Lucas' eyes were half open, flitting about wildly. Ness opened his as well. Peach began to fuss over the two of them as Dr. Mario ran in to transport them back to the infirmary.

"Snake? Snake, come in." The codec must have come on when he jumped out of the way.

"Otacon? I'm all right. But Meta Knight and Zelda…"

"Oh god." Meiling joined in the conversation. "They're gone, aren't they?"

"They are, but the two boys, Ness and Lucas…"

"What?" Otacon asked, "what about them?"

"Well, they woke up." There was a long silence. "Guys?"

"Two for the price of two," Meiling whispered.

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**Well, that's all for now. Reviews are appreciated!**


	20. The Irony

**Alright, I lied. I just finished writing this.**

* * *

_"What do you mean?" asked Fox, aghast. The box fell from his hand and clattered onto the ground._

_"There's something I never told you, Fox," said Krystal. She twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "The truth is, I've been cursed from the day I was born." She looked away into the distance. "A prophet had came up to my parents and gave them this warning: 'Your child is one of tragedy. She will bring misfortune to those close to her. One day, the fall of Cerinia will be because of her.' And then, the Sharpclaws came twenty years later to Cerinia."_

_"But I'm sure that that has nothing to do with our engagement right now, does it?" asked Fox._

_Krystal sighed. "Fox, this means everything! Don't you see? If we get married or any closer, you could end up getting hurt!"_

_"Krystal, I'm the leader of StarFox. I'm bound to get hurt. So don't you worry about me and we can get married."_

_"Fox, no. I'm sorry, but I just can't take that chance." And before Fox knew it, Krystal sprinted off into the darkness. The ring glimmered in the dim moonlight, forgotten by the both of them._

* * *

"...and so, she will be sent back to her final resting place, which shall be the Kingdom of Hyrule. May the powers have mercy on her soul."

Master Hand finished his speech and closed the lid on Zelda's coffin. The remaining brawlers were all solemnly dressed in black as the coffin was sent through a shimmering portal which closed immediately after it was sent through. Meta Knight had his own coffin too, though it was a lot smaller and was shaped like a small orb that encased his body wholesomely. As King Dedede had some diplomatic issues to straighten out in Dreamland, he offered to take the Star Warrior's remains back to Dreamland the next day. By the bushes, far away from the eyes of the other Smashers, three boys chattered nonstop.

"Will we be alright?" asked Lucas.

"We should be," said Ness. He turned to Toon Link, who sighed. It had been he who had told the two about what had happened in recent events. "I mean, Fox's list is almost over, right?"

"I don't know... remember how Fox couldn't remember everyone who was supposed to die? Besides," said Toon Link, "I keep having this feeling that it won't be over. Not ever."

"What do you mean?" asked Lucas.

"If this death thing really wants to kill us, I think that it'll never stop hunting us till we're all dead. Do you guys really suppose it'll just stop? I mean, when I almost drowned, it was horrible. And to think that it could happen anytime again..." He trailed off as he received blank stares from Ness and Lucas. "Didn't you guys feel it?" Ness and Lucas shook their heads. "Well, I guess you two were lucky, I suppose, what with being knocked out instantaneously and all..."

"It's ok, Toony." Ness put a hand on Toon Link's shoulder. "We can feel what you've gone through. We're psychics, remember?" He nodded. "So why don't you think back to that day when it happened?"

"Well... sure." Lucas took Ness' cue and placed his hand on Toon Link's other shoulder and the two began to concentrate on the day of the accident...

* * *

A storm of vivid colours whistled past Lucas as Toon Link's memories came into focus. A passing gust of wind chilled Lucas. Looking down, he saw that he was wearing nothing but a pair of trunks.

"Hey, Lucas!" He turned his head to the right. Ness, too, was geared for swimming, and dove into the water. Fox was already in the water, swimming away from them.

"Wait for me!" cried Lucas as he belly-flopped after him. The two breaststroked into the middle of the lake. Lucas felt the coolness of the water brushing past his skin, and the warm rays of the sun above shining above him.

As they drifted lazily in the water, Lucas began to suddenly think about Nana. _Wait, why am I thinking about her?_ he thought. _Oh, don't tell me..._ There was nothing he could do to stop these thoughts, and tried to think about them in passing, but it didn't work. Instead, these feelings intensified, burned even.

Somewhere in the distance, a bell clanged. _It must be dinner_, Lucas thought; the sun was setting already and the sky was turning a light tint of orange.

"Well, looks like we gotta go back in," he heard Fox say. Fox began to swim back towards the mansion. "Race you there!" he called back. Lucas looked at Ness, who smirked, and the same thought ran through their heads:

_I'm not going to let some animal who can pilot a ship beat me._

So off the two went, swimming after Fox as quickly as they could. Lucas felt his muscles beginning to strain and gasp for air, and his body pleaded for him to slow down, but his competitive drive was out of control and instead, pushed harder to win.

About a quarter of the way back, Lucas' body gave up. It barely responded, and Ness, a few feet away, had the same problem. He used his arms to try to stay afloat, but he continued to sink repeatedly and water rushed into his mouth. There was a muffled sensation around his nose, like someone had put a pillowcase to it. He couldn't breathe.

He then saw something splash into the water before floating back up. It was some sort of flotation device, and he barely heard Fox shout "Grab on to it!" Mustering what remaining strength he had left in him, he grabbed onto the slippery thing, discovering that it was a buoy.

In the murky depths he saw Ness swimming frantically towards him. His face was scrunched up in pain as he grasped the rope. Slowly, they were being dragged to shore. As Lucas' feet grazed sand, he felt as if he could breathe no more, and felt his arms slacken, and his world drifted into a deep, impenetrable black.

But even then, he could only think of one thing.

Nana.

* * *

"Lucas? Wake up, Lucas!"

He felt someone shaking him. Bright light shone from above him. Eyes adjusting, he saw Toon Link above him, looking concerned. "You ok?" The (other) Hero of Time asked. he nodded. Getting up, he saw that he was clothed again in his everyday attire. To his left, he saw Ness shaking his head fervently.

"Whew! That was some shock you had, Toon Link," said Ness. He gave a fleeting a smile, before turning back to Lucas.

"Lucas, are you ok? It seems like you're still out of it."

"Hmm? I'm fine..." Lucas understood that reliving a person's memory would make him experience everything they'd felt, but it was temporary. Although it had quelled, he still had some longing for the cute girl in the pink parka.

"Lucas? Lucas, are you still there?" Toon Link and Ness were walking away from the bushes. "The others are leaving. We should catch up." Lucas blinked and ran towards the two, but keeping a fair distance away from fairy boy.

* * *

"So, Fox." Marth had come in last and pulled him into a corner of the foyer.

"Uh, hey, Marth," said Fox nervously. His hands clenched, wondering why Marth of all people wanted anything to do with him. After all, he spent all his time with Ike, and Fox suspected that they were way to chummy to be "just friends," as Marth had always insisted. "What do you want?"

"How much do you know about Wolf?" questioned Marth.

"Well enough to not provoke him. You did that, didn't you?"

"Of course not. He provoked me." Fox rolled his eyes.

"Marth, what do you want?"

"I want you to go and get his diary."

Fox blinked. "I'm sorry. What? A diary? I know nothing about Wolf keeping one, nor am I interested. Go find someone who'd be more willing, like Ike, but keep me out of this."

"You don't think I've tried Ike?" said Marth. Marth's forehead wrinkled with frustration.

"Look, I don't care, just leave me out of it." And he speedwalked--no, ran-- from the raving prince. Knowing Marth, he was already scheming to plot revenge on Wolf-- and Fox.

As Fox walked up the stairs to the third floor, he crossed by Peach, who was walking in the other direction. The two avoided glances and continued their separate ways.

* * *

Fox opened his bedroom door. The sun shone brightly and birds chirped. Life went on even as two of the most revered Smashers had now passed away. Although Zelda and Meta Knight were gone, he still had to save the rest who were still alive. He opened the top drawer in his desk and took out his list. There were faint pencil marks and smudges from where the list was constantly revised.

He nodded slightly as he reread the list. So far, it made sense. His eyes travelled down the list until he saw the next name on the list that made his blood run cold.

The next victim was Falco.

Fox had his hand on the doorknob when he realized something. Falco was downright stubborn, and telling him about his impending doom might do more harm than good. There had to be a way to break it to him.

After Falco was Wolf. He couldn't decide whether or not he should let Wolf die or save him. After all, the two had a complicated past. True, they had been rivals for almost a decade, but there were times where the two were allies. He would deal with that later.

Finally, it was down to Peach and himself. Protecting Peach was top priority, for it was she who held the key to stopping this once and for all. He stared at the messy scrawl that was his name, trying to salvage some value out of it. _What have I done to benefit the worlds that I've been in?_ he thought.

Suddenly, there was a light rapping on the door. "Come in," Fox said, not even looking to see who entered.

"Yo, Fox, what'cha doing?" Fox stood completely still. That cocky voice...

"Oh, hey, Falco. How've you been?"

"I'm doing fine! Can't say the same for you, though. You sick?"

"Huh? Oh, no, no..." Fox crumpled the list hidden behind his back into a ball and inconspicuously slipped it into the open drawer. Falco leaned on the wall.

"Well, if you say so. Anyways, I've been thinking about taking my Arwing out for a fly. You wanna come with?

"Well," Fox stammered. "Why don't we do that a few days from now?"

Falco raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"W-well, uh," stammered Fox, "it's just that, um, it's too early. Zelda and Meta Knight's funerals were today and I just think it'd be respectful to be in mourning for one day."

"Fox, Zelda promoted having fun any day. She said it was a great way of taking things off your mind." Falco straightened and turned away from Fox. "Well, I don't know about you, but I am going today." And before Fox could say anything, he was out of the door. He wanted to follow him, but then he'd just get angry.

"I hope nothing happens to him."

* * *

The garage hadn't been opened in days. Even Captain Falcon had not touch his Blue Falcon, in fear that he would be involved in an accident. _Pussy,_ thought Falco. _Nothing's gonna happen._ He shivered as he opened the door.

The garage was cluttered with many tools. As Falco approached the Arwings, he noticed the windows were coated with a thin film of frost. Muttering angrily, he wiped the glass with his feathers. It was clearer, but there was still a whitish tint.

Starting up the Arwing, he listened to the engine sputter to life. "Baby, you have no idea how much I've missed you," he said. As he rolled the plane out into the field, he prepped all the controls and enabled the G-thrusters. Everything was set.

"Ok, let's go!" he cried. A sonic boom echoed across the grounds as the aircraft soared into the sky. He howled as he watched the scenery below pass him. He gradually increased his altitude. 50, 60, 70 kilometers into the air. The rush, the adrenaline, it revived all of Falco's being.

What he didn't notice was ice collecting on the windows. Not only were they obscuring his vision, it also began to form around the engine of the Arwing. "What the--" he said as he tried to steer the Arwing away from its course. Nothing happened. The craft climbed another 30 kilometers before beginning to slow down.

Falco's heart was racing wildly as he felt it stop. Suddenly, the Arwing plummeted through the air. He pulled on the stick, but it stuck. "Shit!" he cursed. The sensors on the Arwing were still working, and it told him that he another 20 seconds to evacuate before ground impact.

As much as he didn't want to leave his Arwing, he knew that his life was much more important. Bracing himself, he pressed the ejector button right underneath the missile button. A green force field enveloped the seat and the top of the craft opened. The springs beneath the seat released all the pent-up force they contained, sending Falco flying straight up into the air.

As he began his plummet, the force field began to flicker and disappear, and when it completely vanished, the seat disintegrated and a parachute was attached to his back. As it slowed his fall, violent winds came from the east, blowing him off course. "Damn it." He pulled on the ropes on both sides, trying to aim for any convenient landmark.

Another gust of wind sent him sprawling elsewhere. By now, winds came from every direction, causing the blue bird to spin around in circles. As he spun, he felt a shortage of breath. As he grasped his neck, he felt the cord tightening around it. His vision grew dim, and the last sound that he heard was a distant crash from below.

* * *

**I will warn you readers that this fic is drawing to a close in the next few chapters, and I want to thank you all for subscribing to this story. Hope you've enjoyed this!**


	21. Found Once More

**Alright, I'm back with an update after a few months. Just letting you guys know that I'm still alive. :)

* * *

**

_The alarm system began to beep as Fox opened the door to his apartment. Six. Nine. Six. One. The beeping stopped. He flicked the light switch, dispelling the gloom. Clothes were strewn across the floor and a few spare Arwing parts littered the hall in front of his bathroom._

_He walked to the kitchen, and found a large bottle of whisky on the counter. Popping the top, he downed the entire thing in a few gulps. Under the daze of alcohol, he wobbled over to the living room and plopped himself down onto the couch. It was very soft. It felt as if he was sinking into a giant fuzzy marshmallow. The light above began to spin above his head as he steadily and slowly lost consciousness..._

The crash shook the den. "What was that?" Ike rushed to the window. Smoke began to rise from the forest. He turned to Marth, who had his hands on his ears, cursing for being rudely awakened from his beauty slumber in his chair.

"That's what I should be asking!" yelled Marth. He moodily began to comb his hair with his fingers, muttering obscenities under his breath. As he looked outside, however, he grew more solemn. "You don't think-"

The doors flew open with a slam. Fox, followed by Peach, Ness, Lucas, and Wolf, dashed into the room. Peach gasped as she saw the steadily ascending column of smoke touch the sky.

"Oh, no..." she clutched her breast as she sank to the couch Marth was sleeping on.

"Where's Falco?" asked Ness. Fox's eyes widened. Without thinking, he ran towards the front doors, but before he could pry them open, a claw pulled him back.

"Let me go, goddammit!" he shouted, fighting Wolf's grip.

"Calm down!" Wolf barked as he slammed Fox into the wall. "Think for a second! Or have you forgotten how to do that?"

"Shut up!" Fox threw Wolf off of him. He flung the door open and ran into the forest.

"What should we do?" asked Lucas, quite shaken with Fox's outbreak.

"We're going after him," said Wolf. "That idiot's not thinking straight."

Aside from the low crackling of a downed aircraft far away, the forest was silent. A light breeze passed the leaves and branches, creating the illusion of trees guiding Fox to where his nightmare became reality.

After what seemed to be an hour, Fox cringed at the strong smell of burning metal. He could hear the crackling of flames emanating from the wreckage. He began to dig through the twisted metal, hoping to find Falco, injured at the most. His hands stung as the flames licked at his paws. He heard a flurry of footsteps behind him, but paid them no heed.

"Fox!" he heard Peach cry from behind him. "Stop it! You're hurting yourself!" He ignored her, and continued to dig through the warped steel, lacerating his hands in the process. Once again, he was pulled back by Wolf.

"I told you to let me go!" he shouted, struggling to free himself from the lupine's powerful grip.

"He's not there, McCloud!" Wolf snarled, flinging Fox into a nearby tree. Peach looked in on horror.

"Lucas, could you put that out with your PK Freeze?" asked Ness. Lucas nodded, and conjured a giant snowflake which burst above the wreckage, putting out the flames with a shower of ice shards. Fox hastily got back up and started digging through the Arwing again.

"He's... not here." Fox stopped, letting the pain catch up to him.

"No shit," Wolf muttered under his breath. Peach went up to Fox.

"Come on Fox, let's go to the infirmary."

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Fox, but it's going to hurt a while," Peach said as she wiped Fox's wounds with disinfectant. Dr. Mario was busy treating Sonic for tripping and falling down three flights of stairs. Fox hissed as the solution burned and fizzed at the cuts.

They remained silent (as much as Fox tried to be) for a few minutes. Finally, Peach finished, looking quite satisfied. "All done."

"Thanks." An unnatural silence filled the air. "Look, Peach, I'm sorry that I snapped at you guys."

"Fox, I-"

"No, I am. It's just, well, you know. Falco and I have been best buddies ever since I've recruited him from the Hot Rodders."

"Fox, I understand." Fox remembered the day that Falco received an invitation to the Melee tournament.

_Falco was on the Great Fox when ROB handed him something. "Hey, Fox, what's this?" asked Falco. He was holding an envelope with a seal of and off-center cross._

_"Hey, you got one, too!" Fox held up a similar looking envelope. He grinned._

_"Ok, but what is it?"_

_"Remember how I left for a few months? This is where I went!" said Fox, as he opened his envelope. His eyes scanned the letter, inviting him to the Melee tournament. "So, guess I'll be showing you around when we get there."_

_"Ok, but where's there? How the hell are we getting there?"_

_"They'll be coming for us in two days. Get packed."_

_"Ok..."_

_Two days passed, and the rest of the team had come to say goodbye._

_"Have fun, you two!" said Peppy._

_"Come back safe!" Krystal gave Fox a peck on the cheek._

_"Bring back souvenirs!" yelled Slippy in his high-pitched annoying voice._

_"So, uh, how are they, whoever this Master Hand is, picking us up?" asked Falco. As if on cue, a shimmering blue portal opened before them. Everyone but Fox was wide-mouthed. "Ok, that can't be real." Fox nudged him into the light._

_The radiance faded as they stepped into the other side. They were in front of a pair of gates, separating them from a large mansion. "Huh, they sure beefed it up since the last time I was here." The gates opened as they walked towards it._

_"So, uh, what kind of tournament is this?" asked Falco._

_"Well..." Fox was thinking of the right words to use when a pink marshmallow creature walked in front of him._

_"Poyo, poyo!" it shrieked as it dove into Fox's arms._

_"What the hell is that thing?" Falco took out his blaster, ready to turn that marshmallow thingy into charcoal._

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Falco! It's safe! This little guy here's Kirby!" Kirby looked at Falco, walked over, and swallowed the blaster whole, still in Falco's grip. He was shocked and angry._

_"Give me back my gun, you little-" Falco muttered as he stuck his wing into Kirby's mouth._

_"Um, you might not want to do th-" Fox's warning came too late. The bird went straight down Kirby's stomach before being spat out. "Told you so."_

"It's getting late," said Peach. Indeed, the sun had fallen beyond the horizon, leaving behind only a hint of orange in the west. "Well, see you tomorrow, Fox." She left for her bedroom.

The night was uneventful. The survivors slept, as if they didn't know their impending doom still lingered above them. The only sound tonight was the sound of flapping, like a Zubat, though they did not live in the area. The wind swept through the trees, as well as something a little more sinister.

The chirping of birds woke Peach the following morning. The gloom in her room was pierced by a solitary ray of light. Stretching her sore shoulders, she rose from her bed and began applying makeup in the dark. Yes, that's correct; the princess didn't wake up very well with the sun in her eyes. Besides, her skin would age faster.

The chirping from outside the room caught Peach's attention. Wanting to say hi to her small cheerful forest friends, she pulled the curtains apart.

Fox was on his way down for some breakfast when he bumped into Popo. "Hey there," he said. Popo smiled and shrugged his shoulders in greeting. "So how's your sister?"

"Oh, doing fine." Popo rolled his eyes. "She thinks no one knows, but it's pretty obvious she and Toon Link are an item now." Fox laughed. Ah, how innocent it was to see two little kids as a couple.

"I still can't believe we're being kept here," said Fox. "It'd be really nice to go home." Popo looked down. Fox felt a pang of guilt as he remembered that Popo and Nana no longer had a home.

Fox was spared an awkward silence as a scream came resounded down the stairs.

"Peach, are you okay?" Fox yelled as he burst into the room.

Peach was trembling. "Fox, the-the-" Fox gripped her by the shoulders.

"Peach," he said calmly, "are you fine?" Peach gulped, and gestured toward the window. Looking past her, Fox's heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach when he saw the body of his best friend dangling from the tree right outside her window, held aloft by strings, as if he was a tangled puppet.

As Fox walked forward, the branch snapped and Falco plummeted to the ground. Somewhere downstairs, a shrill scream had the two running down immediately. Nana was petrified, shaking, as her eyes were glued to the window.

"I, I thought I saw-" Without waiting, Fox continued down another flight of stairs and charged out the front doors. An empty feeling grew and grew as he neared the body of Falco Lombardi, ace pilot and faithful friend.

* * *

**Yep, I'm going to see if I can find any inspiration for the next chapter. Until then, toodles!**


	22. The End Comes

_The sunlight poured through the window into Fox's face. He scrunched his eyes as he got up and stretched his aching muscles. His head was throbbing, and the table before him seemed to phase in and out._

_'Hangovers,' he thought. Groaning, he changed into his work attire and left his apartment. On the way out of the building, he saw no one in sight. No matter what day it is, the children of the family a few doors down would streak down the hall, shrieking with play and cheer._

_By the time he got down to the lobby, the sunlight outside dimmed. Dark storm clouds were rolling in, casting a shadow over the city. Fox hadn't taken more than a few steps when he felt a drop of water strike his snout. A light rain had begun to fall, and it became heavier as time passed. Running as fast as he could to the subway, he ran past a pair of automatic closing doors, soaking wet._

_The steady hum of the train broke the silence. The other passengers were either busy reading the paper or half-asleep, drool dribbling from their mouths. Finally, the train stopped at Central Avenue, where he took a hurried stroll down a tunnel before arriving in front of a pair of steel-bar gates._

_"Hey, Mr. McCloud!" the guard, a raccoon with brown fur, greeted him. "How are you today?"_

_"Fine, fine. Are the others here yet?" he asked._

_"Well," the guard continued, as he opened the doors, "I know Mr. Toad and Ms. Cerinia arrived a few minutes ago. They're probably in the hangar by now." Fox had no idea why he was so antsy today. It was just a routine test flight. This happened every two weeks; he should have no reason to worry, he reasoned._

_There was no sign of Slippy or Krystal in the hangar. Their Arwings were not here, either. The cool hum of the ventilation above and the somewhat frosty air were the only things greeting him. As he entered the cockpit of his Arwing, the whir of the door made him turn around._

_"God, do we really have to go on another one of these stupid test flights? I know I'm good enough to not crash into a building. Can't say the same for Slippy, though," he joked. Fox laughed. If Slippy were here, he would degenerate into a ball of angry gibberish before joining in on the laughter._

_As Fox slipped into the seat, he tried turning on the engine. Nothing happened. he tried again. Again, nothing happened. "What the hell is wrong with this!" Looked like Falco's wasn't working either. Fox scuffed the floor of the pit in frustration and heard a crinkle of paper._

_Reaching down, he picked up a small piece of paper ripped from a small notebook. The writing was small, and it was elegant; the strokes were strong and firm, yet fluid._

_"Fox," it read, "if you're reading this right now, this probably means that I've gone. I also probably won't ever see you again. Before you go flying into a frenzy, allow me to explain. As I explained before, I was born with a curse. Everyone who comes in contact with me ends up in misfortune. The day before yesterday, I saw something. Today, the weather will make us lose control of our ships and we will crash-land into the park-the park that you and I went to yesterday. Paramedics will arrive, but by then it'll be too late._

_"I just wanted to let you know that I love you, and if we weren't under these circumstances, yes, I would gladly be your wife._

_Yours forever,_

_Krystal"_

_Fox clenched his fist, crumpling the note in the process. Feeling his heart begin to race, he pushed the com-link button on the board that linked to the Arwings' internal communications system._

_The static gave him a brief moment of solace. She didn't destroy this. "Krystal! Can you hear me?" A few seconds later, there was a reply._

_"Fox... I'm sorry. You understand all that there is to understand. This will be the last time we'll speak to each other, and again, I love you."_

_Then the transmission was cut. Fox noticed that Krystal's Arwing had disconnected from the system from the small screen in the middle. A few minutes later, he heard a distant crash._

The survivors gathered around the makeshift grave that Fox had made for his ex-wingmate. The past hour passed slowly, without a sound from anyone. Soon afterwards, the children started to grow impatient and noisy, which made a few of the older fighters usher them in. Soon it was just Fox. After what seemed like hours on end, Fox withdrew a chain adorned with a miniature silver aircraft resembling that of an Arwing. Laying it on top of the mound, he turned and walked back towards the mansion.

The halls were empty. Either one was in the dining room or in their own bedroom, hoping that soon all will be over. Fox mulled over the small photo album he kept in his desk. It was a book of memories, one that reminded him of happier times. Flipping towards the end of the album, he gave a fleeting smile as his fingers traced the photo of him and Krystal before closing the cover.

He barely walked out of his room when Peach crashed into him. The jolt from his tailbone sent sparks of pain coursing through his entire body.

"Are you okay?" asked Fox, hurriedly extending a paw. A gloved hand gripped his.

"I'm okay," she replied. "I guess that's what I should be asking."

"What do you mean?" Fox's ears perked up.

"Well, you've been keeping to yourself a lot more often." Peach slightly turned away. Fox sighed quietly. "I mean, I understand that Falco's..." she nibbled on her thumb, "gone. But you can't keep doing this. I don't agree with most of what Wolf says, but this I do: we're in a time where we can't let our guard down. Fox-" she said while placing her hand upon his- "We're still here. I'm still here."

Fox looked into her eyes. The spark of life behind them seemed to fill him with energy, with life. He felt a little bit of hope well up from somewhere in the depths of his being. He looked at Peach's midriff. There was no change yet, but soon... "Are you ready for it?" He gradually felt his heart beat faster.

"Honestly? No, I'm not. I'm not sure if it's even possible, what with me and you being... quite different."

"I guess we'll just have to have faith."

Wolf sat in his room, clicking a lighter over and over again. He looked at the book that he hid from others sitting on the desk and opened it.

In it were entries that he wrote, dates that have well gone into when the first freak accident had occurred. He flipped through the pages and glanced over the words he had scrawled detailing the deaths with the thoroughness of a scientist observing his latest experiment. He witnessed a few himself and yet they unnerved him. He had seen death a lot, obviously, what with being a mercenary and all, yet blasting enemy spacecraft into oblivion was pointedly less agonizing than dying from convoluted supernatural schemes. He most certainly did not sign up for this.

He groaned and closed the book. It's all going to be over, though. Wolf knew he was going to be next. He looked down at the book again. The book was flipped open again and the scratching of paper drowned out the silence.

It was late in the evening when Fox tried to get Wolf out of his room. "C'mon Wolf, we need to talk." He rapped on the door. No answer. "Wolf, are you in there?" No reply. He gripped the doorknob and twisted it. It was unlocked. "Hello?"

Fox opened it. Wolf wasn't there. He looked around. The room was neatly made. Turning to leave, a blow struck Fox on the side of his head. Reeling from the pain, he looked up. "What are you doing in my room?" a gruff voice asked. Wolf was literally looking down on him and he was not amused.

"Nothing, I was just looking for you."

"Why?"

"Well, because you're next. Just wanted to make sure you were alright." Wolf paused.

"Get out." Fox got no warning before the door slammed in his face. He sighed. He needed to get close to Wolf or else Peach will be next. Damn it.

Wolf flung his gear across the room and dropped his blaster to the floor before throwing himself onto the bed. There was a knock on the door. He groaned. "Didn't I tell you to go away?"

"You only told me to get out."

"Look." The lupine opened the door to face a half-smirking Fox. "I know what you're planning, but I can take care of myself." He walked toward his reflector and grabbed it before walking back over to his arch-nemesis. "You see this? It's not just for bouncing attacks off. It's also for keeping cretin like you—"

But the moment he pressed the button, the reflector's force field shot out and knocked both Fox and Wolf in opposite directions. While Fox crashed into the wall, Wolf was sent sliding face-down across the floor, along his upturned bayonet on his blaster. It cut through his flesh cleanly.

Fox got up, clutching his head. "Wolf!" He ran over to the fallen pilot and turned him over. Three long gashes carved through his torso and his innards were struggling to spill out. "No," he whispered. Fox pushed towards Wolf's middle, hoping that the entrails would go relent. "Help! Someone help!" Footsteps from the distance drew closer. A familiar white coat whisked into view and Dr. Mario prodded Fox out of the way. A Lakitu popped into the room and out as the doctor asked for bandages. When it came back, Dr. Mario wound it tightly around Wolf and four Koopa Troopas rushed in with a gurney. They sped the injured to the infirmary with the doctor trailing behind them.

"Fox, what's going on?" Peach was walking up the hallway.

"It's Wolf. He's been… injured." She lowered her head.

"So I'm next, then." The tone in her voice was devoid of mirth.

"It's alright, I'll protect you." She smiled wistfully. "It's passed him now. Now we just have to worry about you and me. We should probably go and make sure Wolf's OK."

The infirmary had only one patient; Ness and Lucas had been patched up and were resting in their rooms. Wolf was sedated, with an IV shuffling fluids into his left arm. The steady blip of an electrocardiogram elicited a groan from the bedridden canine.

"You can't move around, Wolf. I don't want to risk re-opening your wounds." Wolf snorted. He started to move his left arm when pain ran up from his stomach.

Wolf groaned. "So how long am I going to be stuck here for?"

"Well, I'd say for about two days, but these two—" he gestured to the unwanted visitors—"said that you should stay in here as long as possible and that you should be monitored at all times."

"Are you serious?" he asked the two of them in deadpan.

"Wolf, you know what we're up against," his arch-nemesis said.

"I don't need any help from you, McCloud. Or from your girlfriend."

Peach frowned. "We're not offering you help; you're taking it whether you like it or not," Fox said angrily. "You know what happens if you die, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, your girlfriend's next. You don't think I know that? I can take care of myself just fine. Besides, you might want to be careful now… I've been passed over."

Fox pinched the bridge of his nose. Wolf was right; now that he'd been saved, Peach would be next.

"You'll be fine," he told her. She gave him a wry smile, as he hastily continued, "well, um, we've got each other's back, don't we?"

"We do, but how can we make sure that that's actually going to save us though? You don't know what horrible convoluted plot death has in mind for us."

Fox scratched his head. "Let's talk about something else. Want to go and get something to eat?" Peach gave a non-committal nod. They walked down to the dining hall. It was empty and dimly lit. "I guess we could make something ourselves. Kitchen?" said Fox. The princess nodded and led him inside. After the refrigerator incident, the staff had been neglecting maintenance of the appliances as they tended to bolt out the minute their duties were fulfilled. The small microwave oven laid askew on the edge of the grease-stained counter and the back elements of the stove had all but burnt out.

"I guess you know your way around simple recipes?"

"Not exactly," he said sheepishly. "I can use the microwave though!" Peach rolled her eyes.

"So what do you want to have? Pizza?"

"That'd be great." The oven whirred as she twisted the knob. Thankfully nothing… eventful happened.

"I'm just going to let it preheat for a while." She strutted over to the sink and began washing her hands. She reached for the soap dispenser when she realized that it wasn't there. "Sometimes I wonder how hygienic the food is," she muttered to herself.

The wiring in the oven had slowly begun to become exposed over the past few weeks. Sparks inside burnt up parts of the insulating plastic and created more circuits than planned. The door blew off its hinges.

"Peach!"

Fox grabbed Peach and threw themselves to the ground as arcs of electricity began to fly across the kitchen, connecting to nearby metallic objects temporarily. The storm began to spread to the rest of the room. "Down here!" yelled Fox. He grabbed Peach and took cover under a table. "We'll be safe down here." Peach nodded and looked out toward the chaos. Her face blanched.

"We have to move." She pointed toward the sink. It hadn't been turned off and it began to overflow, spilling water onto the ground. They darted over to the next alcove, nearing the door as the water crept towards them. They were at the door when Fox turned around and saw the microwave oven moving over the counter ledge.

Without a moment of hesitation he pushed her out the door just as the small oven fell to the drenched floor. A numbing sensation climbed up his body as his fingers twitched uncontrollably. He could hear the rush of blood passing through his ears before he finally fell into a sea of black.

Fox heard voices. Somewhere above him he could make out a few hushed words that faded in and out. Shapes gradually came into view and sharpened. He was gazing up at the ceiling of the infirmary. A familiar face moved into his field of vision. "You're awake." Dried trails of tears streaked down Peach's face and her eyes were slightly red.

"Ugh, what happened?" He sniffed the air. "And why does something smell burnt?" He turned his head—or rather, tried—as he noticed that there was a strain around his neck preventing him from doing so. The feel of rough material around his arms turned out to be bandages.

"When you have electricity running through your body it tends to get singed. You've been out for two days now."

"Look on the bright side, it's not like I died, right?" Peach bit her lip.

"Fox, you did." He widened his eyes. "When you got here, you didn't have a heartbeat. You were clinically dead, the doctor called it. Thankfully, they managed to shock you back or something, I'm not too clear on the machine they used."

There was silence between them.

"New life," muttered Fox.

"What?"

"It was something Mewtwo said. The only way to break the cycle is with new life. What if it this is what it means?"

"We're free?" Peach asked. "It's all over now?"

"Yeah, it is. We're free."

**And so I'm ending this after god knows how many years. Time to work on other, more organized and better fics now. Keep in tune for an update for my most recently updated fic. Thanks for keeping with this story!**


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